Heroes of Demaxia
by Robko
Summary: After VI leaves the lost children and the gang disbands Ekko tries his best to stay true to Zaun city, despite his parents urging him to attend Piltover University. However after a tragic loss that even his Z-drive couldn't fix, Ekko finds himself attending PU. After a growth in criminal activity, Ekko realizes he could use his Z-drive to save lives and become a hero.
1. Chapter 1

"And you're sure she hasn't shown up at all?" Ekko asked a bartender who's name tag read "Roman".

"For the last time XII, Vi hasn't shown up since she beat the day lights out of them Factorywood Fiends." The man said to not only Ekko's disappointment, but also the disappointment of some company he had brought with him.

"Dammit." Ekko turned around to the rest of his friends, well actually, they were more like a family to him. "Does anyone else got any ideas?" Ekko asked, feeling a sense of urgency he had been feeling for a long while now.

"I don't know mate, It's been almost a month since she disappeared and we've searched every spot with no dam luck." A man said as he was tuning his favorite guitar, which had the signatures of every single Pentakill member on it, even Sona's before she left for her solo career. "Who knows, maybe them rumors about her biting the dust were true." He said as he plucked the strings of his guitar, thinking about a possible memorial song if the worst had come to pass. This made both Ekko and a few of the other members go pale, thinking about the worst possible outcomes: A factory explosion, getting jumped by a rival gang, being abducted by the glorius evolution, etc... Their were many rumors that spread throughout the communities in Zaun, one thing that was consistent however was that VI seemed to be getting involved in a lot of fights.

"No way VIII, with how much we've been searching we would have found a body buy now." said a woman named VIIctoria with augmented eyes and a leather jacket with VII written on the back.

"And if the Wardens had gotten her, it would be allover the news by now." Ekko added, with a sour taste when thinking about Piltover's Wardens. For all the supposed justice and order that they are supposed to maintain, Ekko felt that Zaun had gotten the short end of the stick, just like it always does. However all those sour thoughts were pushed aside when a small boy tapped his shoulder.

"Do you think VI is ever coming back Ekko?" The boy asked with a saddened expression.

"Of course she will Ajuna, It's Vi were talking about! She could handle anything thrown at her!" Ekko exclaimed. Just about everyone in the gang looked up to Vi, but Ekko probably idolized her the most, like how one would view a superhero. To him Vi was the perfect example of what made the Zaun side of the city so great. "I'm sure IX and X will come back with something." Ekko hoped, however the gang hadn't heard from X in a while, she said she wasn't feeling good.

"If you say so." Ajuna said, his attention soon turning to the one of the bars monitors. The news channel headline read "MAGE TENSIONS INCREASING" and the reporter seemed to talk about an incident involving a mage being assaulted by a man accusing him of being a part of a cult. Before anyone could pay anymore attention to the news headline, the entrance of the bar burst open, a boy on roller skates donning goggles , a backpack and a massive pair of headphones dramatically sliding in. He was slouching over, catching his breath.

"IX!" the gang exclaimed, surrounding him.

"Did you find VI!"Ajuna exclaimed, hope glittering in his eyes.

"Nope, searched every nook and cranny of both Zaun and even as much of Piltover as I could, but no pink hair in sight." IX said, before disappointment could wash over the gang he spoke again.

"But I do have something..." IX reached into his backpack, everyone leaned closer in anticipation. "I SAW THIS BEAUTIFUL SUNSET OVER THE PILTOVER BUILDINGS AND DREW THIS!" He exclaimed as he pulled out a notebook with a highly detailed and and magnificent drawing. "What do you guys think!" He asked, smiling under the cloth covering his mouth.

"It's... It's great IX." Ekko said, his disappointed tone matching that of the gang.

"BREAKING NEWS: A massive wave of destruction sweeping across Copper Street in south piltover! We bring you to Draven who is currently on the scene!" The TV was showing a helicopter view of what looked like a shoot out between a gang and the Wardens. Then after the woman had finished talking, the camera cut to a man with blond hair and a red suit, whom despite being questionably close to the shootout taking place he seemed to be grinning with a huge air of confidence.

"Thank you, oh and it's not Draven, It's Draaaaaaaaaven." He said as bullets flew past his hair."As you can see right behind me there is currently a huge shootout taking place between the Wardens and those who have been Identified as the vicious gang Old Hungry Scar's." The news reporter explained as he nonchalantly spreads his hands towards the fighting taking place. "Now it looks like despite their efforts the Wardens are having a tough time handling the situation." Draven said as a warden was picked up buy a deformed, mutated looking gangster with a singular giant metal arm and threw him at another Warden and slid near Draven's feat. "And now it looks like the Scars have brought out the big guns! Hah! He almost looks uglier than my brother!"

Anger and disgust coursed through Ekko and the rest of the lost children, while they themselves were gangsters, they at least had a moral code, and only targeted the worst of the worst, never innocent bystanders. "It's people like this who give Zaun a bad name." Ekko gritted his teeth.

"Holy smokes! Even The Sheriffs bullets can't pierce through that thing!" Draven smiled as the Gangster's metal arm was blocking the gun fire, it seemed that the arms had some high quality Chem-tech built into it. The camera then turned upward, showing Caitlyn firing rounds at the gangster, not being able to find a weakness. With one quick glance she notices the camera man and Slams her fist on the ground, speaking into her radio.

"Uuuuuhhh boss? I don't think we're supposed to be this close?" The camera man said, shaking in fear, not wanting to be in the middle of the carnage and suffering an injury... again.

"C'mon! This is where the all the fun is! what other reporter has the guts to jump in the face of danger and-"

"Look out!" The camera man said as one of the Old Hungry Scar's charged at Draven with a gun, Draven effortlessly dodged the first bullet and round house kicked the gun with flare and knocked him out with the microphone in style. "That what happens when you mess with Draaaaaaaaaaaven."

"This guy is all kinds of fucked up in the head." VIII said

"But kind of a badass." IX added, inspiration for his art flowing through his mind.

"Sir we urge you to leave the area." A Warden hurried to Draven's location, He had a an identification tag that read Mohan.

"Leave, why cause it's dangerous?" Draven asked. Mohan seemed to be baffled as he quickly scanned the restricted area.

"Yes!"

"Oh Please this is nothing!" Draven turned to the Metal armed gangster. "Hey Ugly! How about you and your friends take me on, see how it feels to go up against the DRAAAAAAAAAVEN!" Draven provoked the Old Hungry Scars, Arms spread wide using his hands to taunt and beckon them forth.

"Are you insane!" Mohan exclaimed.

"Aaaaawwwww not again!" The camera man groaned. The giant thug began to charge up it's metal arm to fire some sort of cannon, still shielding itself from Caitlyn's sniper shots. Tension and fear began to fill the whole bar.

"I can't look!" Ajuna said, hiding himself behind Ekko.

"GGGGGRRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Draven cried, charging forth, but before he could get close enough or the giant gangster could fire his canon kiling the news crew, something seemed to suddenly dive in from the sky, slamming into the giant metal arm; shattering it into pieces and causing a massive shockwave that knocked back not just Draven, but all the gangsters and the front line wardens.

"What the heck was that?" VIIctoria exclaimed, the figure crashing down to fast for her augmented eyes to identify what it was, but thinks she saw a blur of pink.

Once the smoke cleared, the bar was left jaw dropped at what they saw, the huge gangster was knocked out with his weapon shattered in pieces, and standing on top of him trimuphantly was a pink haired woman with two massive hextech gauntlets and a cocky smile that was ready for action. "VI!" the lost children exclaimed as Vi turned and punched a charging thug, her gauntlets admitting a shock wave that sent the thugs behind the punched one flying and knocked out.

"She's alive!"Ajuna exclaimed with glee.

"And kicking a lot of ass!" Ekko added. "Go show those psychos what Zaun is really about!"

"Amazing!" VIIctoria stated as she analyzed Vi's gauntlets. "I can't analyze the specifics through the T.V but looks like she replaced that Mining bot's gauntlets with hextech!" She said, wondering how VI could have gotten her hands on so much hextech, or more so how was she even capable of holding up the massive weight.

VI continued to beat down the thugs, despite showing her signature pummeling, the entire bar noticed that she seemed to be holding back slightly, especially the bartender whom helped keep VI in check. VI had activated a force field that protected her from gun fire that came from her flank, A shield formed around her, but it would only last for a few seconds so she quickly closed the distance with her vault breaker, making short work of the marksmen.

"And a punch in the face for you! and you! and finally you!" Vi exclaimed as she knocked out what looked to be the last thug. "Okay, if you're all full of the knuckles sandwitches I served ya, I really want to go home and get some shut-eye." After VI had finished her taunt a gangster psychotic looking goon sprung into the air armed with a dagger.

"VI!" Ekko exclaimed, but before VI could be given a head full of rusted metal, the hand holding the knife blew apart from a gun shot, causing the man to fall face first on the floor. VI looked to the direction of the gun shot , seeing that it was Caitlyn, giving a confident nod and a wink as thanks.

It was here that the lost children began to notice something was really odd, in their minds it was weird that the Sheriff would save VI's life, and on top of that some of the wardens began to approach her, some of them giving compliments and thanks while a few were irritated at the late arrival.

_"Did she just give one of the wardens a high five?" _ Ekko thought.

"Camera man! did you get all of that!" Draven asked as he got back up and brushed any dust off of his suit.

"Y-yes sir!" The camera man and Draven ran towards VI.

"Excuse me! Chick with the pink hair!" Draven called while shoving some of the wardens to the side. VI turned to the man calling her and gave a small confident smirk as she noticed the camera. "Who the hell are you and where on earth did you come from!?" Draven asked like he was introducing a new professional wrestler.

"Hmph, The names VI; stands for Violence." Vi said with her signature confidence.

"VI! You mean the same as the infamous leader of the lost children! Strange to hear all the rumors from your disappearance, and suddenly your helping out the wardens?" Draven asked, presenting the same question that everyone was wondering in the bar, but a few like VIII and VII were able to pick up what this was leading to.

"That's because she is our newest member." The camera slightly turned to see that Caitlyn had suddenly appeared.

"WHAT!?" Everyone exclaimed, Ekko, lost children, Draven, and all of Demaxia that was watching the RuneTerra news.

"Did she just say what I think she said?" Ekko couldn't believe what he heard the sheriff say, in fact he wasn't sure if he even heard the TV correctly. "T-This is a joke right." Ekko said with a slight nervous laugh, hoping this was just a bad dream. The group simply watched the rest of the segment in shock as The sheriff began to explain the situation and also go into some vague details about VI's hextech gauntlet's functions. Draven tried to pry into how VI had even been able to apply as a Warden but both the now enforcer of piltover and the sheriff kept their answers vague or simply brushed it off as classified information.

"Well now, looks like we have an unlikely and kinda hot new ally here in piltover! Now if you excuse me I'm gonna go get a drink, now to Janna for the weather. Where the hell is-" Before Draven could continue to be unprofessional the bartender turned off the TV, everyone in the bar trying to process what they had just witnessed.

"Holy shit she's a-"

"She's alive!" Ajuna interrupted VIIctoria, the kid simply being happy that his friend was safe. "Hey, this is a good thing right?" Ajuna asked, noticing everyone wasn't experiencing the same joy he was.

"Yes it is, just... bloody hell, a month of silence and suddenly this fucking bombshell..." VIII said, he and the lost children were glad VI wasn't dead, but the situation was still a lot to process.

"I mean, this is VI were talking about, their has to be some reason for this." IX said.

"I mean, those gauntlets looked pretty state of the art, and working for the Wardens is pretty high pay." VIIctoria suggested.

"She wouldn't sell us out like that!" Ekko spat out, everyone being taken aback buy the small out burst. "She... She wouldn't betray Zaun."

* * *

"Well now, the DRAAAAAAAAAVEN thinks I'm hot." VI chuckled before being elbowed buy her new partner Caitlyn, witch didn't really hurt all that much.

"VI stands for Violence? Really?"

"What, It's what I always say." Vi shrugged.

"And what you always say just so happens to be very unprofessional." Caitlyn explained as she surveyed the area, scrutinizing all the damage.

"What do you mean cupcake?" Vi teased.

"Uugh, You almost make Jayce seem like a gentlemen."

"The hero of tomorrow?" VI asked.

"One and only, you a fan?" Caitlyn questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"No, but having heard about some of the stuff he's done, he seems like a good dude." Vi said, having seen the news and heard things from people that have witnessed his "heroism".

"Take it from someone who has met him in person, there is a reason people say to never meet your heroes." Caitlyn said as she moved closer to the shattered pieces of the giant thugs metal arm.

"Looks like these guys got some pretty good Chem-tech." VI said, she hadn't seen anything that advance from Zaunite gangsters before.

"Looks like that at first glance doesn't?" Caitlyn said as she slid her fingers across the shattered tile.

"Yeeees?" Now it was VI's turn to raise an eyebrow, not exactly following what the Caitlyn was thinking.

"But does this look like something that Chem-tech would have?" Caitlyn asked as she raised two of her fingers close to VI's face, the enforcer noticing shining tiny blue shards spread all over the sheriffs finger tips.

"Hextech?" VI immediately recognized them as tiny shiny residue of hextech crystals that shattered from her punch earlier.

"Bingo, looks like whoever these Old scars got them from tried to disguise them as Chem-tech." Caitlyn looked around the surveying area, she deduced that she had everything she needed, now they just had to take in the suspects for interrogation.

"Hey VI! could you help us with the big guy over here?" Mohan asked , the wardens were having trouble trying to move the giant thug.

"Sure thing ju-" VI didn't finish her sentence when suddenly a ringtone started blaring from her phone. **" SHE'S A MISFIT! ALWAYS READY TO ROLL!" **specifically a song that the lost children had made in dedication to her. VI hastily took off her gauntlets and grabbed her phone to lower the volume and see who was calling her, and she knew it was either one of the lost children or as it was right now, Roman. Ever since she went off the radar she had been getting constant messages from her gang and Roman, avoiding them as much as she could. But now that she had made her debut as a warden, she knew that she had to take this call sooner than later, especially since it was Roman who was probably going to be the easiest to talk to.

"Hey boss, I gotta take this call."

"Are you serious , in the middle of a-" Before Caitlyn could scold VI any further, the enforcer showed her who was calling, and the sheriffs face quickly went from irritated to understanding. Caitlyn leaned in to whisper into VI's ear. "I understand your going through a lot, but you can't tell them anything classified." She said, giving the order with an unusually soft tone.

"I know..." VI said, it pained her to keep secrets from those close to her, but she didn't want to get those close to her involved in things they shouldn't, and coming from her, that was saying something. VI secluded her self a fair distance from the rest of the Wardens and gazed at her phone with a deep breath.

"Hey... Roman." VI said, her voice failing to hide her unease.

"VI; you have a lot of explaining to do." Roman said with a more concerned tone than an angry one.

"Y-yeah look Roman, I know there is a shit ton I have to explain but first, are the guys there?"

"There in the bar, and they've been worried sick! Where have you been!"

"A lot of shit has been going on, and... ever since everything went to shit in the mines I just needed some space." Vi explained, recalling how the miners would have been crushed if it weren't for her quick thinking and the makeshift gauntlets.

"That part I understand, but that doesn't explain how you became buddy buddy with them wardens." Roman said, quitting crime was one thing, but becoming a warden was the last thing eh had ever expected.

"Look I... I can't get into the details, but let's just say instead of just wandering around and beating the crap out of shit heads in the street, I came across an opportunity to do it as a job." VI said, keeping things as vague as she could.

"You mind explaining HOW you came across this opportunity." Roman asked, hoping to figure out more of what was happening.

"Its... classified." VI said, the pain of keeping things secret from her friend showing through her voice.

"***sigh* **you really have gone through a lot of shit." Roman took a deep breath before continuing, If VI said something like "It's classified," he knew for dam sure this was something serious. "Anyways like I said the gang have been worried sick, is there someone you want to talk to first or should I put you on speaker phone?"

"No!" VI blurted out, Roman being taken aback from the sudden outburst. "I mean, no I... I can't right now."

"What do you mean? I'm sure they'll understand." Roman reasoned.

"Well X sure didn't." VI said, Romans eyes widened at the mention of the currently absent member.

"Wait X found you!?"

"Yeah, she didn't tell you guys?"

"No! we only found out about this today!" VI's heart stopped, If X didn't tell them, then that meant that they had only found out about her warden status literally half an hour ago. The thoughts that could be going through their heads, viewing her as a traitor, a sellout as she triumphantly smiled at the camera. Fearing the worst, she abruptly hung up the phone, but instead she accidentally crushed it with her bare hand.

With and angry grunt she through the broken device in the distance, holding back tears. Suddenly she felt a hand rest on her shoulder; VI quickly turned and would have punched whomever caught her off guard in the face, but quickly stopped herself once she realized it was Caityn. Caitlyn was taken aback buy VI's sudden movement, but quickly composed herself before speaking.

"Were returning to the station, getting ready to investigate the suspects." Caitlyn explained, finding herself in an odd situation given VI's vulnerable state.

"Oh yeah, I'll be there in a second." VI said, trying to calm herself down by counting up to twelve.

Caitlyn was tempted to ask if VI was feeling fine, but it was obvious she wasn't. "I know it isn't any of my business but, would you like to talk about it later?"

VI wanted to decline her partners offer, but without Roman available to vent to, she had no one else to talk to and she knows from experience things will only get worse if she keeps her feelings bottled up inside. "Yeah, I could use someone to vent to." Vi said, forming a small, appreciative smile.

"Splendid, what's your favorite tea?" Caitlyn asked.

"Don't know, never had any before."

* * *

Tonight was not a great night for Ekko. The boy was currently walking in the streets of Zaun, staring up at the night sky as he tried to process everything that has happened. Roman told them about the call with VI, about how she needed time to herself ever since the last heist went to hell. Everyone had varying feelings on the matter, VIIctoria thinks VI sold out for the money and hextech, VIII believes she may have been blackmailed and IX wasn't sure what to think.

"Are you mad at VI?" Ajuna asked as he walked side by side with his best friend.

"Yes? No? I-I'm not sure how I feel. I mean, I get that she needed space, that we probably could have had a stricter code, hell I would have been okay with quitting crime altogether, but selling out to the pilties without even a single word! What the hell!?" Ekko said, trying to keep his emotions under control infront of Ajuna. "What about you?"

"I'm just glad she's alive, I don't know why she's working with the wardens, but I'm sure she has a good reason for it." Ajuna smiled, being the most optimistic of the group.

Ekko wished he had the same optimism as Ajuna, but with everything going on he just wasn't sure. "Umm Ekko? That's the wrong way." Ajuna said as Ekko made a left instead of a right.

"I'm gonna go check up on X, see if she's feeling better." Ekko explained.

"Oh okay, oh are you gonna give her the letter?" Ajuna said, his eyes sparkling while Ekko blushed.

"What!? of course not, this would be the worst time for that." Ekko said.

"Oh; right." Ajuna said, realizing the poor timing. "Well anyways tell her I said hi!" Ajuna requested before the two friends parted ways.

It took Ekko a while but he soon found the apartment complex X was currently living in, remembering how happy she was when she told everyone she was able to afford her own place. Ekko knocked on door 10, know one answered, but after a second, harder knock the door opened itself. _ "She left the door open?" _ Ekko thought, worried that something had happened to herhe rushed through the door and was shocked at what he saw when he turned on the lights. Allover the place their was destroyed furniture, walls, graffiti of manic smiles and explosions. "What the hell..."

Ekko searched the house, panicking that their might have been a break in calling for X only to be met with silence. However he began to notice something odd, as he searched through the room. Ekko noticed that there were bullets on the floor near the door to the bedroom, at first he thought there was gun fire, but he quickly noticed that the bullets still had their casings. With a gulp he opened the door and his eyes widened when he saw various boxes filled with ammo and explosives scattered around the room, the bed riddled with bullet holes. But what really caught his attention was the giant words that spelled "VI IS A STUPID FAT HEAD!" on the wall, and a broken picture frame pinned to the wall holding a photo of the lost children, with VI's head bearing devil horns and a curly mustache in pink marker.


	2. 1 Year later

"So, you leaving too?" Ekko asked IX as Ajuna was enjoying his pepperoni pizza.

"Sorry little dude, with how busy I've been with my art, the competition in piltover , and my new legs acting up I just don't have the time like I used to." He explained as he finished his Birdio wings. "Also I don't think us 3 is really enough to be called a gang." He added.

Ekko sighed as he lowered his head, ever since VI left the gang and none of the lost children were fit to lead any heist they had begun to disband one by one. They still hung out from time to time, but with VIII continuing his music career, VIIctoria getting into Zaun tech and IX gaining a following as an artist, things haven't been the same as they used to.

An awkward silence currently filled the space between the 3 of them until IX spoke again. "Soooo, I heard you've gotten a bunch of scholarships for PU." IX stated as he started sipping his fruit punch.

Ajuna almost choked on his pizza, childishly giggling at the unfortunate acronym.

Ekko flinched for a second before answering. "Oh! uhhh yeah... My parents have been urging me to apply for them, and I also did get top 10 in my test scores I guess." Ekko said, attempting to be nonchalant despite shifting uncomfortably at the thought of attending the university.

"Yeah Ekko's got a... what was it called, fully paid tutition?" Ajuna mentioned after finishing his pizza slice Ekko elbowing him, but it was too late.

IX spat out all the fruit punch he was drinking when he heard what Ajuna tried to say. "WHAT!?" IX exclaimed as he stood up in shock everyone in Birdio's staring at the commotion.

"Excuse me, is there a problem here?" one of the employees said, her name tag reading Sivir.

"Not at all! My friend hear has fully paid tuition for P-"

"IX!" Ekko spat out, wanting his friend to shut up and not announce to the whole world about his scholarships.

"Oh yeah sorry..." IX sat back down as Sivir cautiously backed away.

"It's nothing really, I'm gonna be going to Zaun tech anyway." Ekko stated.

"Why! Dude this is a once in a life time opportunity!" IX said, beginning to sound like his parents, minus the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

"I'm not going to betray Zaun." Ekko said his face as cold as the ice that was in IX's drink.

"Who said anything about betraying Zaun?" IX said before something clicked in his head. "...Hey man, is this about VI?"

"No..." Ekko said, but IX could tell he was lying when the boy's eyes darted to the side. "Okay look it isn't all because of VI, but I'm not going to sell out to the pilties like she did."

"Look Ekko, I know the whole VI situation is still-err- complicated, but attending PU doesn't mean your selling us out." IX said, standing up to place a hand on Ekko's shoulder. IX had come to accept VI's new status as Piltover's enforcer, in fact he doesn't hold anything against her decision, but Ekko on the other hand... "Piltover, Zaun, or hell even if you somehow found your self on the moon, you'll always be one of us." IX said before taking his leave.

"Thanks man." Ekko smiled, he still didn't want to go to PU, but it felt nice that he had friends that would always support him. "Good luck on your art." the two exchanged fist bumps before IX made his a way to the door.

"Oh and Ekko?" IX tossed a spray can at Ekko who caught it with both hands. "Think you could spray my portrait on the wall, I would do it my self but I don't have somewhere to be right now."

"Sure thing."

"Hey Ekko, how many of us are up on the wall?" Ajuna asked as the two of them walked through what was essentially where Zaun and Piltover met, also not too far from the Birdios they were just at. Ajuna made sure to stay close to Ekko, as to not get lost in the crowded area.

"Pretty much the whole gang except us two." Ekko said. The wall he was referring was a the wall of an abandoned building that the lost children used as a hideout before Ekko and Ajuna joined. Back then the original leader "I" had died in a fight against a rival gang, the lost children had spray painted a portrait of him on the outer wall of the hideout, and ever since then whenever a member left regardless of the circumstance, the gang vowed that a portrait of them would be put on that wall. Normally IX would be the one to do the portraits, but this time he has entrusted Ekko with his. This wasn't his first time putting a portrait on the wall, about a year ago he had sprayed X's portrait on the wall when things... happened.

"Excuse me! Pardon me!" Ekko heard someone hastily making their way through the crowded sidewalk but he couldn't see who it was. "I'm going to be lat-Ack!" Ekko felt something soft and fluffy ram into his leg.

"What the?" Ekko turned towards the whatever bumped into him, and was suprised to see a fluffy yordle adorning goggles and loads of paper work flying about.

"My papers!" The yordle tried to grab all his papers in a panic, the surrounding piltovans simply passing by without a second thought, a few even gave a disgusted expression when noticing the yordle.

"Typical pilties." Ekko grunted as he and ajuna began to help the poor man and pick up his papers various pieces of hextech scattered about.

"Okay I at least have this and- Oh dear where's the resume!?" The yordle exclaimed before noticing the white haired boy presenting some more paper work to him.

"Here you go sir." Ekko said, still surprised to see a yordle in the flesh.

"Why thank you boy, I surely owe you one." He said as he took the paper work and stuffed it in his bag.

"Ooooh what's this thing?" Ajuna said as he carried something that glowed blue that read CH-2 on it and when he slightly shifted his hand it began to blink.

"Aaaay don't touch that!" He said as he snatched it from Ajuna and attempted to throw it high in the sky, but before the device could leave his hand it exploded, leaving the yordle with charcoal black edges on his fur and electricity coursing through his body.

"Crap! you okay!" Ekko winced as the yordle tried to get out of his stunned state.

"I'm okay...us yordles are very, very durable." He weezed out as he fell on the concrete sidewalk.

"Sorry I broke your... whatever that was." Ajuna apologized, helping the yordle up on his feet.

"The CH-12 Electron Storm Grenade, and don't worry I can always make another in short time. Anyways thank you boys for helping me gather my thing."

"No problem misterrr?..."

"Heimerdinger!" Heimerdinger greeted, shaking both Ajuna and Ekko's hand. "And you are?"

"The names Ekko; and the kid that broke your grenade is Ajuna." Ekko said ruffling Ajunas head like one would their younger sibling.

"Well it's been a pleasure meeting you two but I'm afraid I have somewhere very important to be; I hope our paths cross again soon." Heimerdinger said, rushing towards his destination.

"He seems nice; i don't get why people have problems with yordles." Ajuna questioned.

"Don't know, guess that's just how pilties are." Ekko said, in his eyes this kinda of stuff never happens in Zaun, people didn't care whether you were a yordle, vastayan, or even a mage.

"I don't think all pilties are like that." Ajuna stated as the two continued to walk towards the portrait wall.

"Well a lot of them sure didn't help Heimerdinger." Ekko said.

"Well I'm sure they just didn't notice him; he is pretty small." Ajuna reasoned, his optimism never faltering.

"Yeah... guess so." Ekko was going to mention how a few of the pilties had disgusted looks on their faces when seeing the yordle, but decided against it, wanting to drop the subject of pilties from his mind. But unfortunatley for Ekko, he was going to have to deal with more pilties. When he and Ajuna finally made it to the old hideout, they noticed there were some people over at the wall, they weren't sure why someone would be at the abandoned building, but once they noticed white paint brushing over the portraits of the former lost children Ekko and Ajuna ran like hell.

"Hey what the hell are you doing!" Ekko exclaimed as they made it over to the portrait wall.

"Who's asking?" A man who was currently painting over the portrait of a happy bright X looking up towards the sky.

Ekko didn't answer, instead snatching the roller from his hand and tossing it aside as he tried desperately to rub the paint off. "Nonononono..." Ekko pleaded, but to no avail, most of the paint had already dried up.

"Hey kid! knock it off before I call the authorities!" Another man walked up with a name tag that read "Kyle", from his uniform you could tell he was the one in charge. His threat was meaningless to Ekko, far from the first time he dealt with cops.

"Do you have any idea what you've done!? What you just erased!?" Ekko exclaimed, rational though becoming an after thought. Ekko was furious, the memories, the memorials, the send offs, all seemed to be taken away buy white strokes.

"Did you make this?" The man who formerly held the roller assumed. "Sorry kid, Clan Ferros brought the building and we were hired for renova-" The poor guy didn't finish his sentence before Ekko hit the back of his knee, forcing the man down and held him by the shirt.

"Dam Piltie!" Ekko exclaimed, showing fury similar to VI back in the day.

"Ekko Stop!" Ajuna exclaimed as he and the other man pulled Ekko back and prevented him from beating the crap out of the guy.

"That's it kid, Get out of here or else!" Kyle exclaimed, having enough of Ekko's interference.

"Hey is their a problem here?" Everyone turned their heads to see the new voice that had introduced themselves. Everyone, especially Ekko and Ajuna ;were shocked to see a familiar face.

"Oh great another on-" Kyle was about too assume from the newcomers appearance that they were simply another trouble making Zaunite, but he quickly recognized the pink hair and massive gauntlets.

"Oh! The enforcer... " Kyle relaxed, even though it was the infamously violent VI he was glad that any Warden had come to take care of the situation. "Yes! We were hired to do renovations here and this child is interfering with our work!"

"VI!" Ajuna and Ekko called to the enforcer, her eyes widening as she noticed her friends that she hadn't seen in over a year.

"Ekko? Ajuna?" VI had know idea why they were here.

"VI! You have to stop them! their messing with the send off wall! The old hideout!" Ekko pleaded, hoping that despite everything that had happened that VI would somehow fix everything, just like she would when she was a part of the lost children.

"What..." VI wasn't sure how she didn't notice, probably because of all the equipment and giant masses of white paint, but she finally realized that the portraits made ont he send off wall were being painted over, and that the building being brought and renovated was that of her old hideout. VI's fist and teeth clenched, anger flowing through her body. The man that was almost assaulted buy Ekko took a quick glance at the wall. Although he had already painted over it he remembered that VI's face was one that wall, at first he thought it was just a fan that had done it, but now he realizes that there was much more to the grafitti art.

_"Weredeadweredeadweredeadweredead!" _The man thought as he braced for what he believed was going to be a beatdown buy the enforcer. Ekko for a second was estatic, VI was just like she had always been and she was going to show the pilties what happens when one messes witht he lost children, but then that hope in his eyes turned into confusion as VI's fist softened and her expression attempted to calm down.

"I see, sorry Ekko but your gonna have to come with me..." On one hand, the demon version of herself on her right shoulder told her to beat the ever living shit out of the renovators, but the angelic Caitlyn on her left shoulder urged her to not resort to violence, especially when these guys were just doing their job and most likely had no malicious intent. Ultimately VI went against usual nature and decided to handle things without her fist.

"This is a joke right!? your just gonna let the Pilt-" Ekko was about to go on a grief fulled rant, but stopped when he noticed Ajuna walking towards their former leader. "Ajuna what are you doing?"

"It's getting late, and I'm tired." Ajuna said, but Ekko knew he really meant to say lets not start trouble and just drop it. Ekko unwillingly complied and just dropped it.

"Fine..." Ekko grunted as he, Ajuna, and Vi began to leave their old hideout. Once they were a fair distance away Ajuna suddenly launched himself at VI, giving her the tightest hug he could possibly give.

"We missed you so much VI!" Ajuna began to tear of as he held himself close.

"I missed you too little dude." VI smiled as she patted his head with her massive gauntlet, though her smile faltered once she saw Ekko's disappointed expression. "So... how have you guys been."

"We're fine... Perfectly fine." Ekko spat out.

"I see.. so how has the gang been? I heard they-"

"Disbanded... Oh and X Became very fluent in guns...Wonder why?" Ekko said as he crossed his arms, If words could hurt what Ekko said pierced VI, but she couldn't blame him, after allwhat he said was true. Soon followed a moment of awkward and tense silence, VI lightly scratching an itch in the back of her neck with one of her gauntlet's big fingers.

"Low blow dude..." Ajuna called Ekko out before turning to VI."The gangs doing great! IX is entering an art contest in Piltover, VIIctoria is having fun in Zauntech, and VIII's got a huge gig for the music festival next month!" Ajuna smiled, hoping to brighten up the mood.

"Glad they're doing well." VI smiled, happy to hear her old friends are okay. Suddenly VI's phone began to ring, the ringtone being the same as it always has been. "Crap!" VI muttered as she saw the caller ID Cup cake. "Hey sorry guys I got to take this call real quick." VI quickly disengaged one of her gauntlets letting it drop to the floor. "Hey Cait... sorry I'm taking long something kinda came up... yeah yeah I'll be there... bringing the donuts now... see you soon Cupcake." VI hanged up the phone, quickly sticking her tongue at it like a child even though their was no video chat. When she turned to look at Ekko, she was quick to realize he somehow looked more bothered.

"So... Cupcake huh? You left us for some true love crap?" Ekko said, he knew VI only said cupcake for two reasons, either someone she was going to beat the crap out of, or as a nickname for woman that she had her eyes on.

"It isn't like that Ekko." VI said, regretting the slip up of using the nickname. "And even if it was you know I wouldn't leave for something like that."

"Then why did you leave!" Ekko exclaimed, beginning to get a bit heated. "Because all Roman told us was that you couldn't do crime anymore after the the last heist went to shit, but that doesn't explain you becoming a Warden and however the hell that happened is "classified!". Ekko had tried all he could to find out what had happened to make VI become a Warden, but all he could find were wild rumors and everytime he looked up an interview or conference that brought up that question Caitlyn or VI would simply dodge it.

"Look Ekko, yes it's classified and I really REALLY want to tell you everything but I-I just can't." VI explained, pleading for Ekko to understand.

"You know what? Fine, don't tell me, I'm sure it's some crazy top secret fate of society crap or whatever." Ekko said, accepting the fact that he won't get a straight answer. "I just hope you know what your doing."

After another awkward silence VI looked up at the sky, noticing day had become night and looking at the time it was pretty late. "Hey you guys mind if I give you a ride home, it's late out and knowing Zaun..."

"No thanks, we can take care of ourselves." Ekko answered. "C'mon Ajuna let's go." Ekko said turning his back to walk home.

"But Ekko We haven't seen VI since forever, and we are pretty far from home..." Ajuna reasoned.

"Look Ajuna, we could take care of our-" Ekko was about to argue but stopped when he notice that Ajuna was giving him a very sorrowful expression, like a poor boy begging for even a tiny drop of water. But Ekko knew this face, it was the same exact face Ajuna would give to distract pilties as the others snuck in and stole their stuff, or as a way to get favors, and Ekko wasn't going to let this pity face manipulate him. Then again Ajuna did look really sad, and despite the current tension it had been long time since they had seen VI, and- " ***SIGH***Fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffine you win."

"YAAAY!" Ajuna cheered as he jumped up and down.

"Never change Ajuna." VI said before the trio started walking. After getting donuts and heading down two blocks they came across a police car, there were two people there, someone sitting in the back seat and Sheriff Caitlyn waiting for VI outside the car.

" So you volunteer to get donuts and once again it takes you over an hour; and you brought new companions this time." Caitlyn stated with a slight hint of annoyance.

"Sorry about that, I was catching up with some old friends. Ekko and Ajuna, this is Cupcake; Cupcake, meet Ekko and Ajuna." As she was being introduced Caitlyn examined the boys, noticing Ekko was clearly in a sour mood while Ajuna seemed to be in a pretty happy one.

"Oh, so these are you friends from your former gang?" Caitlyn stated, remembering some photos VI showed her. "It's a pleasure to meet you both, VI had told me many great things about you." Caitlyn extended her hand for a handshake. "Also my name is Caitlyn, NOT cupcake." Caitlyn clarified as she gave a snickering VI a judging look.

"I know who you are piltie, also your hat is stupid." Ekko spat, if there was one person he didn't want to talk to it was the sheriff of piltover, especially if she had anything to do with VI leaving. Ekko simply avoided the handshake and stood next to the backseat waiting for it to be open. Caitlyn wasn't too shocked buy the reaction, figuring that she and someone from the lost children wouldn't make for a good combination.

"My names Ajuna!" The boy said, making sure to not leave Caitlyn's hand hanging. "Also don't mind him, I think your hat looks great!"

"Thank you; your hat is quite nice as well." Caitlyn was suprised buy how accepting Ajuna was of her existence, even going as far as trying to cheer her up, even though Ekko's attitude didn't really offend her all that much.

Ekko suddenly realized something, looking at Caitlyn's hat that she had started wearing from about 9 months back. "Wait isn't that Devaki's h-" Ekko was interrupted when he heard a tapping from the back seat. Ekko turned to see a blonde haired boy who fogged up the window with his breath and wrote "Get me out of here, I will pay you handsomely ;)"

It took Ekko a while to get a feel of the guy considering his not so formal attire, but he figured considering the attempt at a bribe and that the attire seemed pretty pricy, he was definitely piltovan. Ekko snickered as he fogged up the window, writing his reply in the form of drawing a middle finger and "Sorry I'm not a sellout."

The blonde kid simply shrugged and wrote back "Worth a shot \\( -_-)/."

Soon Ekko heard the door unlock and he let Ajuna enter the car first, probably be smart to not sit next to the guy you just flipped off. "Ah, I see I'm not the only one being taken against my will." The blonde boy said.

"Actually we're getting a ride home." Ajuna corrected.

"What!? you guys get to carpool while I get behind bars." The blonde complained.

"Well you shouldn't have gotten caught stowing away on a boat after you had gone missing for a whole month." Caitlyn stated as she started the car.

"Oh c'mon! It's not like anyone got hurt!" The boy pleaded. "Look name your price, money, favors, a life time supply of cupcakes!?"

"For the last time no bribe in the world is going to get you out of this situation." Caitlyn stated with a cold stare.

"Look at the very least, can we do this without uncle Lymere finding out."

"Oh he's gonna find out. every. single. detail."

"I'm doomed." The boy slouched in dramatic fashion.

Ekko couldn't hep but roll his eyes at the hyperbole coming from the guy. "This is gonna be a long ride..." Soon the car started, their next destination being Ajuna and Ekko's place.

"Hey so what's your names?" The blonde boy asked, eager to strike up a conversation.

"My names Ajuna, and this is my best friend Ekko." Ajuna smiled.

"Nice to meet you guys, the names Ezreal."


	3. Carpool

Ezreal was normally one to not care all that much about consequences, after all as a child he would always cause mischief around his uncles home, misplacing important documents, searching for classified files or simply climbing up dangerous places that he shouldn't be in the first place. But this time he had performed the biggest stunt he ever had in his life, vanishing out of the blue to stowaway on a boat headed from Demaxia; a country located in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, to Shurima; a country located near the Western Sahara and Morocco. While he was sure to get a very long lecture from his uncle Lymere, he new it would all be worth it, especially with what he had found in the ruins.

As Ezreal sat in the back of the police car he pulled out something from his pocket, it was the new 4DS Switch game system that had just come out, as he began to play one of his games he noticed Ajuna was leaning over to spectate. "Is that a 4DS Switch!" Ajuna asked, he had heard many great things about the system all over the internet, despite not being able to afford it he was still quite excited.

"Uhuh." Ezreal replied, concentrating on the computer opponent he was facing off against. After taking another glance at the kid he could obviously tell he really wanted to get his hands on it, but seemed to be too polite or shy to ask to play it. Ezreal seemed hesitant at first, after all that console was pretty expensive and he didn't want it to break, but he couldn't help but succumb to the kid's wholesome expression of awe and wonder. "Wanna go a few rounds?" Ezreal asked as he popped out the joycons and presented one to Ajuna.

"Really!?" Ajuna asked, excited at what was in his eyes a once in a life time opportunity.

"Sure, just be careful and don't break it." Ezreal urged as he handed it to Ajuna. Ekko once again rolled his eyes at how cautious Ezreal was being seeing as the rich kid could just buy another one no problem, but he was a bit surprised buy his generosity, though he wasn't sure how much of it was genuine or because of Ajuna's irresistible child charm.

Caitlyn gave a small smirk as she saw Ezreal and Ajuna getting along, though that smirk soon faltered when she noticed Ekko giving her a cold glare.

"Soooo, have you guys been up to anything lately?" VI asked, noticing the deathly staring contest between Ekko and Caitlyn she felt like she had to break the tension somehow.

"hhhhmmmm nothing muuuuch... Oh! Ekko and I were chased buy chem-thugs a month ago, climbed up old hungry, spray painted a Pilt-" Ajuna was interrupted when he was lightly elbowed buy Ekko, who darted his eyes to the side, directing the boys attention to the wide-eyed Caitlyn and VI in the front seats. "Oh..." Ajuna nervously giggled as he returned his focus to his match against Ezreal.

"You boys seem to find yourselves in a lot of trouble." Caitlyn stated.

"What, you gonna arrest us?" Ekko asked rhetorically, keeping his cold stare.

"Well I mean if I'm getting arrested I guess it's only fa-" Ezreal chimed in, but he quickly shut his mouth when Ekko turned to him with the same glare. "Or I could just keep playing sure..."

"All I'm saying is that things could get dangerous down here, and it would be unfortunate for any of you to get hurt." Caitlyn reasoned with a concerned expression.

"Well it's not like you wardens are much help at all." Ekko said as Caitlyn stopped at a red light. Everyone was taken aback at how Ekko made such a bold statement to the sheriff.

_"Well shit; this kids got some big cajones saying something like that to Cait." _ Ezreal though. Even as a kid when Caitlyn used to be his babysitter, the sheriff would create makeshift jail bars for when Ezreal misbehaved even the slightest. Though soon Ezreal realized that Ajuna was distracted and started dealing damage against his fighter.

"Hey! No fair!" Ajuna said as his attention was taken back to his match.

VI winced as her attempt at breaking the tension only made things more tense. Caitlyn didn't utter a single word, especially since she was well aware that Ekko was right. While Wardens did in fact patrol and hold jurisdiction in Zaun, she knew that the ones stationed here weren't always up to standard, she even arrested a few that were taking bribes from chem-barons. Caitlyn tried her best to station better Wardens in Zaun, but in the end many of them refused to be stationed in the infamous city, and while she herself would patrol here time from time, most of Caitlyn and VI's time were mostly either dealing with the loose cannon, or were spent tracking down the hidden dangers and threats that resided within the city of progress, especially that of a certain criminal who's identity was still unknown.

Ekko gave a cheeky smirk, feeling as though he had become victorious in an easy game of chest.

"Hey! Stop spamming!" After the light turned green and the car started moving again, Ekko turned his attention to Ajuna and Ezreal.

"Hey if you can't handle it that's on you kid." Ezreal said. Ezreal was currently using a character with a really good projectile attack and was doing nothing but spamming it. In the end Ajuna was unable to adapt and lost the match. Ezreal had a shameless grin on his face while Ajuna pouted.

"Spamming? Really man? Ekko said.

"Hey it's not spamming, it's called zoning." Ezreal retorted

"I know what zoning is, and THAT us not zoning." Ekko reached his hand for Ajuna's joycon "Don't worry Ajuna, I'll show this piltie how it's done." Ajuna was more than happy to pass the controls to Ekko The boys picked their fighters and started the match, Ezreal attempted to spam but this time it didn't work as Ekko had chosen a character with anti-projectile options and closed the distance. As the match progressed Ekko was suprised that Ezreal was actually quite skilled and adaptable when he needed to be, but in the end Ekko was victorious. "And THAT is how it's done!" Ekko cheered, giving Ajuna a fist bump.

Before they could go another round the car had stopped in front of the apartment complex Ekko lived in. Ekko simply exited the car without a word, holding the door for Ajuna, however before Ajuna exited he realized he was still holding Ezreal's 4DS. "Oh yeah, thanks for letting me play this." Ajuna smiled.

"No problem kid, and you know what... Keep it." Ezreal said, giving Ajuna the remaining joy con.

"Really!?" Ajuna asked, his eyes sparkling with joy.

"I could always buy another one, aaaaaaand I happen to be in a pretty good mood today." Ezreal lied about the first part, knowing his uncle wouldn't let him play any games console or even take a trip to the arcade any time soon, though even without the grounding he was gonna get he had a feeling he wouldn't have much time for games considering a certain item he needed to retrieve.

"Thanks!" Ajuna exclaimed as he exited the car. " Oh and thank you VI and Sheriff Caitlyn for the ride! Hope we'll see each other again!" Ajuna said.

"I hope so too, and make sure to stay out of trouble." Caitlyn smiled, once again the smile faltering as her eyes met Ekko's whom wasstill giving her a death glare. Waiting for the two best friends to enter the complex safely Caitlyn drove off, heading back to the Piltover police station. The ride was mostly silent, as much as VI wanted to address the elephant in the car, she decided to wait until the two were in private.

"***YAWN* **hey can you guys put on some music?" Ezreal asked.

"Sure thing..." VI complied, wanting anything to fill the awkward atmosphere. VI turned on the radio, flipping through various channels from DJ Sona to Pentakill.

"Hey wait go back!" Ezreal urged, hearing a song he was very fond of. VI turned the radio back and stopped on a channel that was playing a song from the hit pop artist Ahri. VI raised her eyebrow as she looked at the back seat, seeing Ezreal make a small dance and lip sync to the song.

"Dork." VI said as she rolled her eyes, pop wasn't exactly her kind of music, it was nothing in comparison to Pentakill. Although VI found herself surprised when she turned to the side and noticed Caitlyn lip syncing and tapping her fingers to the beat. "Wait a second, you like K-Pop?" VI asked.

"I'm quite fond of it yes." Caitlyn answered, which prompted Ezreal to lean forward.

"Yeah, back when she babysat me we used to always play these kinds of songs in Just Dance." Ezreal said. Now VI began to laugh as the images of a young Ezreal and Caitlyn dancing to K-Pop music formed in her head.

"So your telling me you used to dance like that?" VI asked as she pointed to Ezreal who was still attempting his routine.

"Yes..." Caitlyn answered, small hints of pink forming on her cheeks. "What? Is it really so out of the ordinary for someone to dance to this genre?"

"Nononono, I'm not crapping on your taste or anything, I just always thought you were the more classical music, ball room dancing kind of woman and not... what ever he is doing." VI answered, once again directing attention to Ezreal's dance routine.

"Well I guess I'm just one to subvert expectations." Caitlyn smirked. VI wasn't sure, but from the tone of her voice she could have sworn the sheriff might be flirting with her, but VI didn't have enough time to think about it or follow it up when the car began to rumble. "What the!?" Caitlyn stopped the car, both woman exiting the car to investigate.

"Did we hit something?" VI asked.

"Yes, and whatever it was gave us a flat tire." Caitlyn informed. "Check if we have a spare."

VI popped open the trunk of the police car, no spare tire in sight. "Nothing."

Caitlyn looked around, but the road they were currently in was pretty empty, save for a few kids playing in the streets. "Well shite." Caitlyn was thinking of what they should do, it wouldn't be up to code to continue driving with a flat, perhaps she and VI could push the vehicle but then they might be fatigued, or perhaps she could call the po-

"Excuse me, are you in need of assistance?" A robotic voice asked. Caitlyn and VI turned their heads suprised to see a steel golem walk up to them.

_"The hell? what's a golem doing in this area of Zaun?" _ VI wondered, as she looked around their was no sign of any chemical spills or toxic gases.

"Pardon?" Caitlyn asked, feeling as if she had seen this particular golem before.

"You seem to have a flat tire, I may be of some assistance." The golem answered.

"Got a spare one hidden inside of you?" VI asked.

"I'm afraid not, but I could scan the area for any spares." The golem said, beginning to do so. "If you don't mind me asking, are you Sheriff Caitlyn and Enforcer VI of the Piltover Police Department?" The golem asked, Caitlyn and VI still taken aback buy it's formality.

"Indeed we are."

"And Is the boy that was in your vehicle within your custody?" The golem asked as he pointed his massive metal hand to his left.

"Was?" Caitlyn looked to where the golem was pointing and saw Ezreal running in the distance. "How!?" Caitlyn darted her eyes to the back seat, seeing it empty and the furthest door was open. Caitlyn quickly deduced that the door must have remained unlocked when Ajuna and Ekko were dropped off, the sheriff quickly got her rifle and loaded up the 90 caliber net.

"Dammit! He's out of range!" Caitlyn grunted.

"I'll get- WOAH!" Vi was about to chase after the boy, but was interrupted by the golem's hand shooting out, quickly catching up to Ezreal.

"HAHA! Can't believe I gave Cait the slip!" Ezreal told himself, feeling the same rush that he would have when escaping a collapsing tomb. _"Now I just need to get to the docks and find my gau-" _Ezreal couldn't finish his though when he felt the tight squeeze of metal wrap around his body. "Aw MAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Ezreal was quickly pulled from where he was and into the clutches of the steel golem.

"I believe this is yours." The golem said as Ezreal tried to pry himself free, complaining about the tight grip.

The golem handed Ezreal to Caitlyn, who quickly put him in cuffs and back into the police car. "Guess I should add resisting arrest to the list of things to inform Lymere." Caitlyn said, closing the door before Ezreal could make a quip.

"I must thank you for the assistance, it would have been a pain trying to search for the boy all over again." Caitlyn said, reaching her arm for a handshake.

"No need to thank me, I am simply fulfilling my purpose." The golem stated as he gave Caitlyn a firm hand shake. "Speaking of which." The golem turned around and began to scan the area around them, hoping that among the many trinkets you can find around the nooks and crannies of Zaun might be a spare tire. "Scan complete, I am afraid there are no spare tires in this area." The golem confirmed, forming what Caitlyn and VI guessed was a saddened expression from it's eyes.

"Hey if anything you could help me push the car." VI said, even though her gauntlets would make pushing the car almost effortless, she had a feeling that the golem really wanted to help.

It was then that an Idea sparked in the golem's head. "Actually I believe I have just discovered a solution, however I need you two to be in the vehicle." The golem said.

"Why do you need us in the car?" Caitlyn questioned.

"Trust me..." The golem stated. Figuring that he probably just wanted to push the car himself or was going to do something that required the car to be moving, the two woman entered the car.

Once they entered, Ezreal decided to make a desperate attempt at weaseling out of his captivity. "Hey so just letting you know the life time supply of cupcakes is still up for- WHAT THE!?" Everyone was suprised when the car shook as the golem was carrying the car.

"What is he doing!?" Caitlyn exclaimed as she poked her head out of the window to see they were suspended in the air.

"Your destination is the Piltovan Police Department correct?" The golem asked.

"Yes but-" The golem ignored Caitlyn's plea as it began to move as fast as it could without causing to much disturbance within the vehicle.

"WooHoo!" VI laughed at the crazyness of the situation while Ezreal seemed to just be confused. "Looks like we're in for a ride!"

* * *

"For the last time Jayce if it hasn't worked the last 20 times it isn't going to work now." Mohan said as the two men waited for Caitlyn to arrive.

"First of all it has only been 15 attempts, and 2 it's gonna work this time, because I've got this." Jayce retorted as he pointed to the top hat that was longer and even more ridiculous than Caitlyn's.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen." Mohan stated.

"That may be so, but as far as I have seen, she clearly has a thing for ridiculous, impractical head wear." Jayce deduced.

"Dude I don't think someone liking strange hats means it's a fetish; even if by some miracle your plan does work, she and I are going to be working on a very important case." Mohan said as he checked his watch, wondering what was taking the sheriff so long.

"Hey Mohan, remember when you said this hat was the most ridiculous thing you've ever seen ?" Jayce asked.

"Yeah? why do you aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-" Mohan was left stunned when he saw a steam golem carrying a police car through the streets of piltover, Piltovans taking videos with their phones, either being filled with shock or laughing to no end.

The golem stopped in front of the two men, gently placing the car down in the parallel parking space. "HAHAHA! THAT WAS AWESOME!" VI cheered as she made exited the car and made her way to the drivers seat to check on Caitlyn.

"Hohooo! you okay Cupcake?" VI asked as Caitlyn exited the car.

"I'm fine, just... processing the fact that a Golem carried us all the way from Zaun to Piltover." Caitlyn said.

"Well it looks like everything in the car is okay so I guess everything turned out all right." VI said as she grabbed Caitlyn's hat and gave it to her.

"Thanks." Caitlyn smiled, appreciative of VI's kind gesture.

Heading to the other side of the car The golem approached the duo. "Is there any other assistance you require?" The golem asked.

"We have everything under control, thank you." Caitlyn said, despite the sudden shock of everything that had transpired, she was appreciative of the golem's willingness to help. "By any chance do you have a name?" Caitlyn asked as she got Ezreal out of the car, keeping a firm hold on his arm.

"Blitzcrank?" Jayce said, entering the conversation.

"..." Their was only silence , as Caitlyn had an cold look on her face while VI and Ezreal tried to hold back their laughter. "Jayce...you know this golem?" Caitlyn asked, feeling she had just about seen enough for the day.

"Yeah, this here is Blitzcrank. It was created by professor Stanwick." Jayce explained, It seemed as though Blitzcrank wanted to say something at the mention of Stanwick, but ultimately stayed silent.

"I see... well Blitzcrank t was nice a pleasure meeting you and if you don't mind I will take young Ezreal here into his cell."

"Caitlyn wait!" Jayce urged, Caitlyn unwillingly turning around. "So... Have you noticed anything different?" Jayce asked with a shining smile.

"Yes I have..." Caitlyn smiled, giving Jayce some hope that this just might be the day. But all of that was shattered when Caitlyn reverted to her cold stare. "Your hat is stupid." Caitlyn stated before entering the building.

"I like your hat." VI smirked, taking in Jayce's disappointed face.

"Shut up..." As much of a brilliant inventor Jayce was, he was not so brilliant when it came to gaining a woman's affections.

* * *

"Hey Ajuna, can you pass me the wrench." Ekko said, his voice not so coherent as he was holding a screw driver in his mouth.

"Here you go." Ajuna handed Ekko the wrench. "So, are you really going to be able to travel through time with this?" Ajuna asked as he scrutinized the green crystal within the device.

"That's what it SHOULD do, as for what it will actually do? I have no clue." Ekko answered. About two months ago Ekko had found a green crystal in an abandoned and destroyed laboratory, and when he avoided the detection of some thugs roaming around he found various pieces of a blue-green hextech crystal. One day while experimenting he caused a temporal explosion that created various Ekkos from alternate realities, quickly the Ekkos repaired the crystal and the very fabric of reality. And ever since then he has been trying to harness that power, and today was going to be that day.

"Do you think it would be easier if you learned magic and used the crystal directly?" Ajuna asked.

"Maybe, but that isn't exactly within my realm of expertise." Ekko answered. "Also I'm not sure if just any mage can harness this kind of crystal."

Once Ekko was finished using the wrench the sound of fierce grumbles came from both the boy's stomachs. "Man I'm hungry." Ajuna said.

"Yeah me to, think you could grab us some sandwiches from Aspect of Bread?" Ekko asked, referring to the bakery owned buy the locally famous Pantheon.

"Sure thing!"Ajuna said, Ekko gave him some of his allowance, the boy quickly exiting the house to get the bakery and head back as quickly as possible. Normally people would consider this a dangerous thing to do at night, but Ajuna knew the safest routs one could take, and it was pretty routine for him to play the errand boy. As Ajuna walked through the various streets of Zaun, he suddenly heard whistling, it was a really nice tune that flowed through his ears. Even though Ajuna was supposed to head to the bakery he decide to make a detour; the last time he was distracted by a pleasing tune resulted in him assisting a street musician with background music using a trash can. However AJuna would soon find out that the source of the whistling was no musician.

"So? Looks like you got your filthy hands on my boss' belongings after all?" Ajuna looked around the corner, their were two men, one was a skinny Zaunite thug while the other was a heavy set Piltovan. They were both near a river, the Zaunite holding on to the bars tight while the heavy set man stood relaxed and heavy set man was holding what some sort of envelope.

"So what? You guys have been giving them to gangs allover! So what if I make some for myself!" The Zaunite said.

"Ohohooo, you don't get it do you? We don't just gives these out to any random bloke; what do you think my boss is reckless?" The man said. "Though I guess I was the reckless one in the end, should'a never outsourced to a Zaunite." The man put the envelope inside his coat, before quickly pulling out a hextech gun and shooting the Zaunite; the body going over the rail and into the polluted water.

Ajuna flinched, accidentally knocking over some cans, catching the attention of the Piltovan. "Well now what do we have here? Someone poking their nose where it doesn't belong..."

Ajuna surrendered to his instincts and ran as fast as he could, he easily out paced the heavy set man, but no amount of running or parkour could save him from a speeding bullet.


	4. Chrono-Break

"Yes!" Ekko exclaimed as he revved up his device and the insides spun to life. "Awesome, now I just gotta wait for Ajuna to get here and we can test it out." Ekko said. After a couple of minutes he checked his watch, realizing that Ajuna was taking longer than usual to get the sandwiches. Ekko grabbed his phone from his desk and texted Ajuna, asking him where he was, but no reply came. Something deep inside Ekko told him to go search for Ajuna, fully possible that he got himself in trouble with the authorities or got distracted by a street musician again. Ekko slung his Zero drive over his shoulder and headed out, lucky for the boy his parents were working late today, so he didn't have to worry about stealth.

"Ajuna! Where are you man!" Ekko called out as he walked their usual route to the bakery. "Ajuna!" Ekko couldn't find him anywhere

+;Ekko figured that he might have been held up at the bakery; It had been gaining more popularity recently. Ekko eventually stopped walking, his eyes widening in terror as he saw a body lying at the end of an ally; Ajuna's body. "AJUNA!" Ekko called, but the body didn't move. Ekko dashed towards his friend, quickly cradling him in his arms and getting a close look at blood on his chest.

"Hey Ajuna! W-Wake up buddy... C-C'mon man!" Ekko cried, hesitating when he placed his fingers on his pulse. There was no denying it, Ajuna was dead. Ekko panicked, thinking about what to do, but then he remembered the device he had on his back.

"The Zero Drive." Ekko wiped away the tears that were streaming from his eyes as he looked at his glove that the switch was embedded in. "Please work..." Ekko turned the dial as the world around him gained a green glow, then he noticed everything was going backwards; the wind, his movements, the bugs flying about. Before he knew it he went so far back that he was back in his room, his hand on the pull handle as his Zero Drive spun to life.

"It... it worked... IT WORKED!" Ekko exclaimed, he had done the impossible and traveled through time, and with what seemed to be no complications to his body. His stomach rumbled, making Ekko remember what had caused everything in the first place. "Hey Ajuna, how about we have something from the fridge instead ...of... the..." Ekko turned around to see that Ajuna was nowhere to be seen. "Wait... no!" Ekko had realized that if Ajuna wasn't there, then he must have already left for the bakery. But that can't be; he traveled back in time to his desired location so how could Ajuna not be here? Knowing that his best friend's life was on the line, Ekko once again pulled the handle on his Zero Drive to once again travel back in time. However instead of being placed at a time before Ajuna left to get sandwiches, he once again had his hand pulling the handle as the Zero drive spun to life. It was then that Ekko finally realized that his Zero Drive couldn't just allow the boy to travel at any desired time, but he can only travel as far back as he first turned on the Zero Drive.

"NO!NO!"At this point Ekko was hyperventilating, his Zero Drive wasn't able to travel back to stop himself from sending Ajuna off to his death, and he knew full well that with the amount of time that had passed Ajuna was most likely a corpse in an alleyway by now. Ekko didn't know what to do, for most of his life he always had a plan to get out of any sticky situation, but this time when it mattered most, he had no idea how he was going to save his best friend, he couldn't comprehend the fact of that his best friend, an innocent kid was dying and bleeding out from a gunshot wound. Ekko was thinking and thinking of how he was going to fix this, but then as he looked at the green glow of the Hextech crystal, he realized that he had all the time in the world.

Attempt 20, the normal route: Ekko was breathing heavily, 10 minutes and 20 seconds, the fastest he had gone, but Ajuna was still dead. "My legs won't be enough." Ekko said as he activated his Zero Drive.

Attempt 40, vehicular travel: Ekko was currently being chased by the police, trying to get to Ajuna in the car he stole. No matter how hard he tried he seemed to always find himself cut off buy the Warden's police cars, this time was no different as Ekko found himself crashing into a wall. As Ekko tried to compose himself he looked at his watch seeing that 15 minutes had passed. The time it took to break into various different cars and his lack of driving experience only made things take longer.

Attempt 50, the scenic route: After so many rewinds Ekko decided to take his time and take a more longer route around where Ajuna died, hoping to find any clues about who shot him or what happened. Ekko also discovered from one of his previous runs when he sprained his ankle that despite the rewind undoing any damage inflicted upon him he still carried a portion of the pain and even exhaustion. "Nothing..." Ekko mumbled as he searched the other end of the ally, trying his best to look away from Ajuna's corpse on the other side. When Ekko was about to rewind again he noticed something in the water, Ekko leaned over the railing to get a closer look and was shocked to see another dead body with a gun shot wound; blood oozed out and spread across the water. "What did you run into Ajuna?"

Attempt 78, the bridge route: Ekko nearly broke both of his legs but he made it 4 minutes and 28 seconds, his best speed yet; but it still wasn't enough.

Attempt 80, the rooftop route: Ekko ran as fast as he could, this time shaving a few seconds when avoiding a whistling man that was passing by. As Ekko jumped between the Zaun rooftops he slipped, luckily he turned his dial before going splat on the ground.

Attempt 92, the rooftop route: 3 minutes and 41 seconds, the fastest he could possibly go. "Ekko?" Ekko turned to see Ajuna lying on the ground, reaching out for Ekko's hand. "Ekko I feel tired, I want to go to sleep." Ajuna said, Ekko bent down and cradled him. Ekko didn't want to admit it, but he knew Ajuna was going to die in about a minute, maybe two. There was no way of saving him, but Ajuna wouldn't be the only one dying in Zaun tonight.

"Ajuna, who did this to you?" Ekko asked, hating the site of his best friend dying in his arms, the fact that he couldn't do better to save him.

"I don't ...know. Just... heard whistling, I got distracted... and I saw someone get shot..." Ajuna said. Ekko instantly new who he was talking about, through out his past 20 rewinds he kept crossing paths with a big piltie who was whistling. Ekko wondered why a piltie was walking through the streets of Zaun, he should have known.

Final attempt, avenging Ajuna: Ekko quickly grabbed a bat that was lying next to his bed and ran the same route. As soon as he heard whistling and saw the piltoven he spun him around; holding him by the collar and poking his bat against his stomach. "He's dying right now! Alone! Why!?"

"He got what was comi'n; should'a minded his own business instead of snooping around. I don't know what you saw but-" The man didn't finish his sentence, instead he pulled the very same gun he used to kill Ajuna and shot at Ekko.

"Crap!" In all his rage Ekko forgot to take the gun into account, he got out of the way but the bullet struck his Z-drive.

"Is that thing going to explode!" The man exclaimed as the Z-drive flashed a violent green-blue glow.

Ekko himself wasn't sure what was going to happen, but seeing the man run off he knew he wasn't going to let him get away. Ekko chased after and lunged at the man, vengeful hands strangling him. The man tried his best to struggle, but to no avail as the lack of air made him weaker by the second. The man stopped struggling, his eyes glazing over as he died a slow and painful death. Once Ekko was sure the deed was done, he made haste to Ajuna's location before his inevitable death.

"Ekko?" Ekko turned to see Ajuna lying on the ground, reaching out for Ekko's hand. "Ekko I feel tired, I want to go to sleep." Ajuna said, Ekko bent down and cradled him.

"It's okay. Go to sleep. When you wake up everything will be okay..." Ekko said, shedding a tear. Despite seeing his best friend as a corpse over 90 times, the pain was no less agonizing as the first time... maybe worse.

"Hey? Ekko?" Ajuna croaked, his final moments drawing ever closer.

"What is it Ajuna?" Ekko asked, willing to hear his best friends voice before he was gone forever.

"D-do you think all pilties are bad?" Ekko was taken aback by the question, he wasn't entirely sure where it came from or how to answer it. Ekko instinctively pulled the handle on his Z-drive, but nothing happened due to it being busted. Realizing he couldn't rewind time if he said the wrong thing, he quickly collected his thoughts.

"I-I do." Ekko answered, giving Ajuna the truth. Ekko didn't like Piltover, everyone from there were just stuck-up, self-absorbed, and always took what they wanted, hell the reason why Ajuna was dying was because a piltie shot him. Ajuna slightly frowned, Ekko internally panicked believing he said the wrong thing.

" I think some of them are good; when you give them the chance." Ajuna answered, he turned to face Ekko eye to eye. "Goodbye Ekko, I'm gonna miss you." Ajuna gave a sad smile before the life in his eyes faded away, his body surrendered to gravity as his head fell back and his legs gave out. Ekko began to burst into tears, hugging what was now a corpse. "I-I'm sorry Ajuna, I tried so hard!" Ekko snapped his head to the streets when he heard the sound of a car drive and park near them. It was a warden's car, two warden's exited the car.

"Oh no..." The male warden said, he and his partner were called in to investigate reported gunshots, and it looks like they found one of the people affected. The man spoke into his radio before kneeling next to Ekko and Ajuna. "Don't worry kid help will be arriving soon, you mind explaining what you saw?" Ekko turned to the warden, after 92 attempts, Ekko was going to give them every single detail.

**THE NEXT MORNING**

***BEEP*BEEP*BEEP* ** The alarm next to Caitlyn's bed was ringing, signaling it was time for her to get up for work. Caitlyn woke up, fighting the weight of tiredness as she turned off her alarm. The sheriff got up and headed straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth and take a cold shower to make herself feel more awake, thinking about the task she had for the day. When Caitlyn exited the room she put on her uniform, once she finished putting on her left boot she glanced to the wall beside her, noticing a strand of red string on the floor.

"Ah bloody hell." she mumbled to herself as she walked over to the fallen string. "Now where did I put you...?" Caitlyn asked herself as she picked up the fallen items and scanned the wall filled with photos of crime scenes, locations and people of interest attached to an investigation board on the wall and connected with red strings. Caitlyn quickly noticed a photo near the middle left showing a man with the same exact purple top hat that she commonly wore, Caitlyn reconnected the red string to the thumbtack beneath the label "Devaki", she also connected that string to another thumbtack above it that pinned down a piece of paper with "Weapon Smugglers" written on it, and about 4 other photos next to Devaki's, two of them had nothing but a question mark while the other two were pictures of suspect Caitlyn and VI had apprehended.

"Hmm... I never did thank Devaki for the hat." Caitlyn smirked, she remembered the day she had apprehended the man who was trying to smuggle components for Vishlaa's Hexylene Caliver into Zaun, a banned hextech weapon that was considered too dangerous for legal use. After apprehending him Caitlyn took a liking to his hat and took it for herself, and now it was a sort of trade mark for her. Though unfortunately even with VI's interrogation skills, which usually involved her massive gauntlets, the most they could get out of Devaki was the gang he planned on selling the weapon to and other potential locations he planned on stealing from. Caitlyn followed the red strings to the top of the investigation board, where a card with the letter "C" was pinned. "Still nothing..."

Caitlyn's thoughts were put to a halt when she remembered that she had the rest of her morning routine to complete. Caitlyn exited her room, the sudden smell of something delicious invading her nose. As she walked through the small hall she took a quick glance to her right, the room to VI's room was open showing clothes and sheets scattered across the floor, and to Caitlyn's dismay a shattered digital clock. "Dammit not another one..." Caitlyn muttered to herself.

As Caitlyn made her way to the kitchen she found VI, who was currently wearing pink sweat pants and a white top, flipping pancakes. "Good morning." Caitlyn greeted.

"Morning' cupcake." VI replied as she flipped her pancake, earning a small smile and an eye-roll from Caitlyn.

"I see your up early, that's a first." Caitlyn stated, suprised that VI wasn't still sound asleep in her room.

"What can I say, first time for everything." VI smiled.

"Maybe one of these days there will be a first time where you don't break the clock in your room." Caitlyn said as she sat on the living room couch and turned on the TV, changing the channel to the morning news. "This is the 3rd one this month, I think i might need to start pulling the expenses off your paycheck." Caitlyn smirked as VI simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey I can't help it, I hear an annoying sound blaring in my ears, I shut it up." VI said, earning a giggle from her partner. Ever since she had become roomates with Caitlyn and had to start waking up early, she had the habit of instinctively smashing her digital clock with her bare hands whenever the alarm went off.

"Now we bring you to our next story, last night a child was shot and killed while walking through the streets of Zaun." The news anchormen said as video footage of a crime scene was shown, Wardens were investigating the scene and keeping the public behind the tape that surrounded the scene. Caitlyn clenched her her hand against the couch, while she was no stranger to these tragedies in her line of work and had learned to keep herself from showing emotion, deep down she always felt disgust when she hears of such crimes.

"The victim was 11 year old Ajuna June, found dead near an alleyway with a gunshot wound in his chest." Caitlyn's eyes widened when she heard the familiar name, then her heart started racing as a picture of the boy she had met the day before was shown on the T.V.

Caitlyn spun around at the sound of plates shattering and pancakes dropping on the floor, VI's face covered in horror.


	5. Goodbye

VI was having a terrific morning, she had a good night's rest as if she was sleeping for eternity, and had great morning banter with her lovely boss Caitlyn. But whatever happy feelings she had that morning ceased when she saw Ajuna's face on the news as a victim of a shooting. "This can't be happening! This can't be happening!" VI panicked, beginning to hyperventilate. Caitlyn was currently driving her to the crime scene in her car, the enforcer not wasting a second to even change into her work clothes. "We just saw him last night! He was fine! He was safe!" VI was trying to hold back her tears Caitlyn nervously gave a quick glance to her partner, as much as she wanted to help calm her down she was too busy focusing on the road and making sure they don't crash. Suddenly the car came to a halt as Caitlyn pushed hard on the brakes.

"The hell!? Why did you stop the car!?" VI exclaimed.

"The light is red," Caitlyn stated, VI looking ahead to see the some cars passing by.

"Then just run the light!" VI urged, disregarding the law.

"And cause a crash! VI I can't j-"

"AJUNA IS DYING OUT THERE!" VI yelled, punching the glove box with her right hand so hard she caved it in and broke through it with her bare fist which was now slightly bleeding from getting cut by the contents within the glove box. "WE CAN'T WASTE TIME! I NEED TO BE THERE FOR HIM! I-I-I-..." despite all her efforts to hold them back stray tear drops leaked out of her eyes and her breathing was becoming more and more unsteady.

"VI!" Caitlyn grabbed VI's left hand before the enforcer could cause any further damage to the car or herself. VI glared at Caitlyn, her grief filled rage softening when she noticed her partner's concerned expression. "Breathe... you need to breath," Caitlyn softly said as she held her hand softly. VI complied and tried her best to steady her breathing, calming herself as she inhaled and exhaled. "Better?" Caitlyn asked her partner as the light turned green.

"Kinda..." VI answered as she held Caitlyn's hand tight. Despite the amount of stress and grief she was still under, Caityln's words and instruction were somehow able to soothe VI just enough to keep her breathing steady.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Caitlyn asked as she neared their destination, "We can return home at any time," Caitlyn added as she parked her car, right next to them they could see crowds of people huddled around police tape.

"Thanks Cait, but I need to do this... I just have to make sure," VI said as she exited the car, Caitlyn did the same, not bothering to take her signature hat. As they walked towards the crowd of people VI tried her best to look past them, her awareness of her surroundings fading away as she noticed a covered up body the size of an 11 year old kid.

"VI wait!" Caitlyn exclaimed as the enforcer rushed towards the crowd, the sheriff running as fast as she could to stop her. VI disregarded the crowd, pushing through anyone in her way while Caitlyn apologized for her actions.

"Hey!" One of the Warden's exclaimed as VI simply walked through the police tape as it ripped with ease. "You can't walk pass the tape!" The Warden grabbed VI's shoulder to stop her from getting closer to the crime scene and escort her out, but as soon as he did so the tight painful grasp of VI's hand wrapped around his wrist caused him terrible pain. The Warden yelped, causing the other Warden's to draw their weapons on VI.

"Everyone stand down!" Caitlyn exclaimed as she took out her badge, showing everyone her status as Sheriff, the Warden's obeyed to her authority. "VI the same goes for you," Caitlyn ordered. VI ultimately coming to her senses and letting go of the man's wrist and making her way to the covered up body.

VI got on her knees, her hands slowly taking the covers off the body, revealing the cold corpse that was once Ajuna June. VI's heart may as well have flat-lined in that moment, there was no denying now that her friend, the boy that had the most heartwarming smile on earth, was now deceased. A tear leaked from VI's left eyes as it slid down to her chin, the tear dropped and landed on Ajuna's cheek, soon followed a downpour of tears from the enforcer as she cradled Ajuna like a mother would their child. "A-Ajuna!" VI cried. After a few minutes of sobbing VI felt a hand being placed on her shoulder, VI turned to see it was her partner kneeling next her.

"VI... you have to let him go," Caitlyn softly said.

"B-but I can't... I-I-can't leave him," VI croaked, memories of the time they had spent together with the lost children coursed through her mind, the games they played, the pranks they pulled, his pure smile, VI wasn't sure if she could just let all of that go.

"You won't be leaving him VI, you will always be there for him," Caitlyn said as she cupped VI's cheek. "But you need to let him rest," It took a lot out of her, but VI reluctantly lied Ajuna back down, bringing the covers back over him.

"I promise we will find whomever did this to Ajuna and bring them to justice." Caitlyn promised as she and VI stood up, this wasn't the first time Caitlyn had to locate and catch a murderer, however it would turn out they were closer than she thought.

"Hey Sheriff," A Warden chimed in, having overheard Caitlyn talking. "We already know who the man responsible for this was," VI's face was filled with a murderous rage when she heard what the Warden had said.

"Where is he?" VI asked, not caring if the killer was already in custody, she was ready to punch a hole through his chest.

Caitlyn however noticed something about the Warden's choice of words. "Pardon me, but what do you mean by "was"?"

When VI thought about whomever was responsible for killing Ajuna, she thought she would have to go through the trouble of finding them and beating them to a pulp, however when following the warden she found that instead of finding the bastard in cuffs ripe for a beating was instead another corpse that had already suffered the consequences. "What happened to him?" VI asked the Warden, only for her partner Caitlyn to kneel down and give an answer.

"He was strangled, whomever did this had a very tight grip." Caitlyn deduced as she analyzed the marks on the man's neck. "And if I had to take a guess his death wasn't quick either." Caitlyn stated as she looked at the pain of the corpse, unlike Ajuna who seemed to be at peace this man suffered a slow and agonizing end. "Have you identified who did this?" Caitlyn asked as she continued to scrutinize the corpse.

"Indeed we have. His name was Ekko Miller, he acted in self-defense when this man pulled a gun on him," The Warden explained.

"Ekko was here! But that means... oh god," VI was left more distraught, realizing that Ekko had most likely seen Ajuna die right before his eyes.

"Did you question him?" Caitlyn asked, hoping to gain more info on what happened.

"We did, in fact he was our only witness," The Warden said before continuing. "He told us that the victim had been on an errand before being distracted by the sound of whistling, after following the sound the boy had seen something which provoked this man to open-fire."

"It was a dam back alley deal!" VI exclaimed, even angrier now knowing Ajuna died for something he wasn't even a part of.

"And I assume what he saw is related to the second victim near the river?" Caitlyn had only seen a faraway view of the second part of the crime scene at the other end of the alley where Ajuna had fallen, but it still only took a few glances of the lack of a body and dried up blood on both the floor and bars to figure out that the other victim had fallen into the river.

"That's right Mam," Caitlyn decided to dig a bit deep and search the dead man's pockets, feeling the sharp edges of paper withing his suit. She inserted her hand into the jacket and pulled out an envelope.

"What's that?" VI asked as Caitlyn stood up.

"Whatever Ajuna and the other victim died over," Caitlyn answered before opening the envelope, Caitlyn's eyes widened when she witnessed its contents. Caitlyn was a master of maintaining a strong poker face, however while that still range true for most of her facial features, her eyes hid none of her shock that was quickly morphing to anger that mirrored her partner's.

"Mam? Are you okay...?" The Warden asked, having never seen such volatile rage in her boss' eyes before. VI was quite taken aback by her partner's eyes, that was until she glance down at the contents and experienced the same initial shock.

The envelope could have contained any numerous illegal products: drugs, bribe money, dark magic, etc... but what VI was surprised to see was various blue prints of scrapped hextech inventions from Clan Giopara, tools deemed too dangerous due to the potential of being weaponized or Warden weapons deemed to destructive, and even what looked to be either prototypes or altered versions of Jayce's Mercury Hammer/Cannon. Now of course there have been many crimes related to Zaunites trying to steal or get their hands on whatever fancy tech and other high quality goods Piltover had to offer, however VI knew the clan that housed the Defender of Tomorrow was one of top notch security and no simple Zaunite thug or even bribed insider could simply get their hands on so much classified information and blueprints from the esteemed clan. _"It Can't be..."_ VI thought to herself as she and Caitlyn quickly remembered that they had seen all of this before, perhaps not with the same clan but the sheer amount of sensitive information being smuggled into Zaun, there was only one person who could have been behind this. VI's assumption was confirmed when Caitlyn pulled out a card with nothing written on it but a massive C, the mark of the mastermind the Wardens currently refer to as 'C'.

Caitlyn was not one to risk harming evidence, but she had so many of these dammed cards that she could sell a full deck; a tear slid down her cheek and fell upon the card before anger consumed her hand and the calling card was crushed within her fist. If Caitlyn's fury was intense then VI's was ten times as much; in a grief filled rage she wound up her arm and punched a hole in the dead man's chest.

**One Week Later**

Ekko was currently in the back seat of his parent's car, the Miller family was driving to Ajuna's funeral. The Miller family couldn't afford to rent any fancy suits for the service, but Ekko's mother luckily had a cheap black dress that was a hand-me-down from her mother while both Ekko and his father wore black button down shirts as well as black shoes and pants.

"I still can't believe it... Ajuna of all children!" Lindsey teared up as she cleaned her watering eyes with a napkin.

"It's okay Lindsey, Ajuna's in a better place now," Howard held Lindsey's hand as he tried to hold back his own tears, "A better place than here."

Ekko wanted wasn't sure whether his father was referring to the world or Zaun in that last part, but he didn't have it in him to make any comments. Soon the Miller family arrived at the funeral home, exiting the car to immediately be greeted by both familiar and unfamiliar faces. The first people they were greeted by were Ajuna's parents, both of them looked like they had been crying the entire week without break.

"Oh Howard! Lindsey!" Ajuna's mother exclaimed as she embraced both Howard and Lindsey, crying on their shoulders.

"Hey squirt, how you holding up?" Ajuna's father asked as he approached Ekko, his face stained by tears.

Ekko wanted to tell him that he felt terrible inside; about he felt like a failure for not being able to save Ajuna's life despite the many chances he had, but Ekko simply shook his head 'no' feeling it wasn't the best time to be pouring all of that out on whom he considered extended family. "Me neither squirt," Mr. June said before giving Ekko a quick hug.

"Ekko!" Ekko spun around, happy to see the former members of the lost children before him, calling him over.

"Guys!" Ekko ran to his fellow lost children and tried his best to embrace all of them at once despite his smaller stature. "I missed you guys so much!"

"We did too," VIIctoria said as she wrapped an arm around Ekko. Even though she was unable to produce tears due to her prosthetic eyes, VIIctoria wanted to cry a water fall when she heard the news of Ajuna's death.

"I tried so hard to save him," Ekko said, his voice slightly muffled by VIII's black suit.

"We know Ekko; Ajuna would be bloody proud of you for that," VIII said, trying to lift up Ekko's spirits. As the gang embraced, IX noticed a Warden's car approaching them.

"Is that?" The gang broke up there hug, watching the Warden's car park near where they stood. The passenger seat facing towards them opened, their former leader VI exiting the vehicle in a black suit, freezing in place once she locked eyes with the gang she left behind. An awkward silence passed between the them, no one was sure knew what to say or what to do. The gang had mixed feelings, Ekko and VII seemed to mostly be uncomfortable and unsure of what to feel while VIIctoria seemed less than pleased to see VI; IX on the other hand was stunned to be seeing his friend again. VI took a nervous glance back towards the car and back towards her old crew, taking a deep breath she slowly approached the lost children before stopping about two feet away from them.

"H-Hey guys, it's been a while," VI nervously said as she visibly tried to hold back her tears, her face failing to hide the immense pain she had been feeling for the whole week. Another awkward silence fell upon them until IX began to slowly roll over to VI and embraced her in the tightest hug he could possibly give. VI was stunned and surprised by the welcoming gesture; she was left more speechless as VII, Ekko, and even VIIctoria slowly approached VI.

"I'm so sorry!" VI began to cry, breaking into more and more tears as each of the lost children joined the embrace. "I'm sorry I abandoned you guys! I-I-"

"It's okay, we'll have that discussion another time," VIII said as his arms almost wrapped around everyone thanks to his taller height. "Right now we are here for Ajuna," The lost children began to feel a nostalgic feeling as they moved closer; a feeling they hadn't felt in over a year, but even then it wasn't truly the same without the soul of the lost children.

"Hey as much as I love the family reunion, I think we should probably be heading inside soon," IX said, knowing that they could all easily be lost in that hug for the whole day.

"Wait," VI said before the lost children could enter the funeral home. "Before we go inside, there's someone I need to introduce you to," VI said as she turned to the car and beckoned someone within the vehicle. The lost children were surprised and stunned to see Caitlyn exit the car in a black dress and without her signature top hat. Caitlyn had her signature poker face that she usually wore; some of the lost children may have interpreted it as Caitlyn being displeased but the truth was that Caitlyn was nervous about meeting VI's former gang, especially since she felt partially responsible for their disbandment.

"Caitlyn, these are the lost children," VI introduced with a nervous smile. "Guys this is my partner Caitlyn," VI said, suddenly making Caitlyn wish she brought her hat to hide her blush while the lost children's eyes widened. VI looked between them and quickly realized her poor and vague choice of words. "In arms... My partner in arms..." VI clarified with a nervous smile, regretting having made the awkward situation even more awkward.

Between the continuing silence, each of the lost children seeming to scrutinize Caitlyn as Ekko simply gave her an unwelcoming glare. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you all," Caitlyn said as she stepped forward and reached out a hand for a potential greeting from the lost children. "VI has told me much about you," As Caitlyn greeted herself, the lost children were surprised to see Caitlyn smile in a way that seemed more genuine than they thought she would give, but were still to unsure of Caitlyn's character and background to return the shake.

_"I shouldn't have done this; why would they open up to me? I could only imagine what they have been through or how the power imbalance has affected them; how I have affected them. I should...I should just return to the car,"_ Caitlyn thought as she slowly lowered her arm, until suddenly someone tightly grabbed her hand and returned the shake. Caitlyn's eyes met with VIIctoria's augmented optics.

_"She might be the sheriff of Piltover, but she wants to be here; she wants to get to know us and my eyes never lie," _VII thought, deeming Caitlyn worthy of a chance.

"The names VIIctoria, with two 'I's," VIIctoria said with a small smile.

"It's nice to finally meat you." Caitlyn smiled with a glimmer of hope. After she and VIIctoria finished shaking hands IX stepped forward.

"The name's IX, honestly I almost didn't recognize you without the hat," IX shook Caitlyn's hand, both of them exchanging a small giggle.

"I get that a lot," Caitlyn answered, since her top hat had become such a trademark that people hardly recognized her when she wasn't wearing it, in fact she used this to her advantage to escape reporters trying to gain classified information on cases and sneak past Jayce whenever he would make another attempt at catching her heart.

"You know, I'm still not too sure about you," VIII said as he stepped toward Caitlyn, his tall stature and scrutinizing glare gave him a slight intimidating aura. "But if VIIctoria of all people is willing to give you a chance, than you might not be so bad Sheriff," VII said as he gave his own firm handshake and a confident smile.

When VIII let go of Caitlyn's hand, Ekko stepped forward with nothing but a disapproving glare towards Caitlyn. "We've met," Ekko spat, simply walking beside VIII. Even though the rest of the lost children seemed to be giving Caitlyn a chance, Ekko still couldn't find it in himself to trust her, especially after seeing Ajuna's death over 90 times because of a Piltovan. On top of that there was the mystery of Caitlyn's involvement in VI becoming a Warden, something that he wanted to try his best not to think about while grieving.

"Wait how do you two kn-ow!" IX was about to ask about how he and Caitlyn met, but was elbowed by VIIctoria, signaling to him that it would be wise to not bring that up for the day.

The remaining attendees of the funeral finally entered the funeral home, Ekko taking a seat with his parents in the front row while the lost children including VI and Caitlyn sat in the row behind him. Once everyone was seated the funeral service began, the funeral director began to speak. He talked about how Ajuna was a life taken too young and about how he will be missed. The representative talked for about a half hour, going through some key moments and traits about his life as most of the people seated teared up and grieved.

"Now Ajuna will truly be missed, now for those willing to volunteer you may speak now," The funeral director stated as Ajuna's parents took the stand. Ajuna's parent's began to talk to everyone present about their memories with Ajuna, from his birth to the day before he died. They seemed to not be talking about Ajuna but more so talking to Ajuna. VI looked to her side; while Caitlyn seemed to be expressionless to most, VI noticed a small hint of surprise on Caitlyn's face.

"Hey Cait, is something wrong?" VI whispered, Caitlyn once again showed a hint of shock at her partner taking notice.

"Well, in Piltover the funeral director is the only one to give a speech," Caitlyn explained. "And the Junes seem to be speaking as if they were talking to Ajuna in the flesh... are they in denial?" Caitlyn asked.

"They aren't in denial," VI explained. "In Zaun we like to talk to the person that died as if they were alive, in a way it's like telling them how much they really meant to us."

"I see," Caitlyn noted. As Caitlyn and VI continued to listen to the Junes, Ekko was currently lost in thought.

_"I'm sorry man," _Ekko thought to himself, every single rewind on that fateful night played in his mind. _"I tried every rewind, every possible method... right?" _

"Ekko," Ekko almost jumped when he heard his name called. "Ekko are you not going to talk to Ajuna?" Lindsey asked, Ekko raised his head and saw the Junes staring at him.

"Sorry... I'm not ready to talk to him yet," Ekko answered. When someone was done speaking to those whom had passed, they would ask if anyone else wanted to openly speak and let them take the stand. The Junes expected Ekko to take the stand next, having been so close to Ajuna. "I'm not too sure if I'll ever be ready," The Junes gave a sad yet understanding smile and decided to let his parents take the stand instead. _"I'm not ready yet, maybe some other day I could tell you about everything. I'll tell you about every single rewind, every single attempt, every single failure..." _

Ekko simply sat and listened as more people talked to Ajuna and reflected on the time they had spent with him. VII talked about the time when Ajuna begged VII to teach him how to play the guitar only for when he tried to teach him Ajuna ended up breaking one of his guitar strings, that was the first time VIII was subjected to the divine power of Ajuna's puppy dog eyes. VIIctoria reminisced when she freaked out Ajuna when pulling one of her prosthetic eyes out for tweaking, she helped ease Ajuna's fears and disgust by explained what she was doing step by step, Ajuna had gone from afraid to perhaps the most intrigued out of anyone VIIctoria had known. IX looked back on the many art projects he had done, and how in the future he planned on doing a special memorial art piece for Ajuna. Lastly VI was talking about the day before the he died, wishing it could last forever.

"After you left I really hoped we would see each other again, and in a way we have... for one last time," VI finished as she wiped her teary eyes with her sleeve. "Does anyone else have any final words for Ajuna?" VI asked, seeing that no hands were raised. Everyone close to Ajuna who wished to speak had already done so, now all that was left for the funeral was the end, awaiting the next day for the body to be buried.

"I do," Everyone spun their heads in awe to see Caitlyn standing up. "I-I would like to speak with him," VI smiled as she let Caitlyn take the stand, everyone was shocked at the notion of a Piltovan paying their respects to a Zaunite boy. Caitlyn scanned the surprised crowd before taking a deep breath, a small smile forming.

"Ajuna, you always had this shining smile on your face, you had this strange ability to cheer everybody up with just that smile," Caitlyn said, smiling just from the thought of Ajuna's grin. "I'm going to miss that smile, I already do. And If I had been better at my job... that smile would still be here." Caitlyn said, the Zaunites in front of her wondering what she meant by that. "You had such a grand life ahead of you, you made so many friends and impacted so many lives, including my own." Caitlyn 's eyes lowered and her right hand clenched into a fist. "But that life was taken away from you, all because I failed to stop the ones responsible."

_"Caitlyn what are you saying? You shouldn't shoulder all the blame,"_ VI thought, beginning to worry about her partner.

"If I had found that man earlier, If I had caught the people behind it all you would still be here today. You would still be drawing all those little pictures, playing the most hilarious pranks, and climbing the tallest of buildings," Caitlyn held back her tears as she recounted the many things that VI had told her about Ajuna.

_"VI must have told the sheriff a lot about us," _IX thought as Caitlyn seemed to mention some things that weren't told on the stand before.

_"VI never forgot us... she never stopped thinking about us," _VIIctoria smiled.

_"Ajuna always had that effect on people, you spend just a minute with him and your just begging to adopt the little snot." _VIII thought as he remembered the first time he met the little boy.

While the lost children felt a form of relief that VI hadn't forgotten them in her time as a Warden and were happy that Caitlyn seemed to have gotten along with Ajuna, not everybody interpreted Caitlyn's words in a positive light.

_"The hell! You only knew him for a day!" _Ekko thought, Interpreting Caitlyn's choice of words as if she was pretending to have been friends with Ajuna for longer than a day. _"What the hell do you mean it's your fault! what the hell do you know about pain!" _ All the years Ekko had spent with Ajuna course through his mind, the years of friendship they had. _"What the hell! She couldn't possibly understand what we're going through! What I'm going through!" _Now all the rewinds on that fateful day rushed inside of Ekko, every single time he saw Ajuna's corpse, evey single time he saw what a piltie had done when he pulled the trigger.

"Mom... I need to use the bathroom." Ekko said under his breath, Lindsey not noticing the venom in her son's voice.

"Okay son, It's best not to hold it in."

_"Oh I won't be holding anything in." _ Ekko quietly walked back to the entrance and then walked behind a row of pillars that were on either side of the room, Ekko walked without anyone taking notice of him and stopped after turning to his left to see Caitlyn on the stand.

"Ajuna I-"

"DAM PILTIE!" Ekko ran like hell towards Caitlyn, all rational thought being replaced with grief and hatred as he lunged himself at his target. Caitlyn upon hearing the scream was only able to just turn her head slightly and see Ekko for a brief second before the painful sting of his fist collided against her cheek and nose. The whole crowd gasped as Ekko attempted to charge at her again, but Caitlyn quickly reacted and kicked him back.

"Ekko!" The lost children exclaimed, immediately springing into action. VI made her way to help Caitlyn up while the rest of the lost children held Ekko back before he could release more of his fury.

"Bloody hell Ekko! What's gotten into you!" VII asked as he held Ekko from under his arms.

"Dude calm down!" IX urged as he held Ekko's left arm.

"Let me go!" Ekko was in a blind rage, all rational thought leaving in place of grief and hatred.

"Cait! Are you okay!" VI asked as she helped her partner up, checking for any signs of injury.

"I'm fine VI... I'm fine," Caitlyn answered, however VI's eyes widened when she noticed Caitlyn's nose was bleeding.

"WHAT THE HELL EKKO!" VI exclaimed as she was about to walk towards the boy, only for Caitlyn to grab her arm.

"VI don't!" Caitlyn urged, worried that VI's anger may get the best of her.

"But he had no reason to-"

"You only knew him for a day!" Caitlyn and VI spun their heads towards Ekko, whom was now crying a water fall of tears. "You only knew him for a day and yet your acting like you knew him your whole life! Like you were actually there for him! Your full of shit!" Ekko cried and cried, he stopped struggling against his friends' grip. "Were you there for him when he was jumped by chem thugs!? Where you there for him when those close to us died!? Were there for him when the lost children fell apart!? You weren't, in fact you were probably responsible for the last one!" Ekko spat, VI and Caitlyn felt a painful sting in their chest. "How the hell would you know the impact he had on us!? The pain we are feeling!? The pain I'm feeling!?" Ekko said, believing the sheriff in front of him could never know the pain of seeing your best friend's corpse over and over and over again. "What does a rich piltie like you know about pain!? About what it feels like to lose something and never get it back!?"

Caitlyn's eyes widened at Ekko's question, she wanted to answer back and say she has, but the truth was she really hadn't. She made enough money to not have to worry about material possessions, she owned her own house, she always had delicious food on her table. The closest thing she ever had to losing something close to her was when her parents were kidnapped, the distraught of her parents disappearance left her in such a panic, before she used her natural hunting and investigative skills to find them. But she saved her parents, her parents were alive and well in their own home.

"Ekko stop it!" VI said, despite the pain he was in VI was having about enough of her partner being wrongfully antagonized.

"No... he's right..." Caitlyn said, everyone turning to the sheriff. "I've never lost anybody before, I've never felt the same pain as everyone here. I had only known Ajuna for merely an hour when all of you have known him for most of his life." A tear shed from Caitlyn's cheek as she nervously rubbed her left arm. "I-I don't belong here..."

"Cait wait!" VI grabbed her partners arm before she could make her way to the exit. "That's not true! you do belong here!" VI declared, but it wasn't enough to convince Caitlyn.

"VI, I don't." Caitlyn snatched her hand away from VI. "I'm sorry for causing all of you trouble." Caitlyn wiped a tear away with her arm before exiting the building. A deathly silence filled the room, the only noise that could be heard was the vibration of VI's phone. VI dug into her pocket and took out her phone, opening the screen to see a text from Cailtyn.

_'Call me when the funeral is over.'_ VI's eyes widened when she hear the sound of a car leaving the area. VI turned around as her face filled with rage, she walked towards Ekko as people prepared to hold her back. Before VI's rage could consume her, she stopped a few feet from Ekko, the angel on her shoulder once again keeping her from succumbing to hatred.

"VI-VI you..." Ekko was losing his words, he still felt an inner rage, but at this very moment he couldn't find the words he wanted to leave his mouth.

"I've changed." VI said, Ekko shocked at the fact she was the one to find his words. "That's what you want to say right? That I've changed, that I'm not the VI you used to know?" All Ekko could do was glance to the side as his friends let him go, knowing that he wouldn't be able to do anything drastic now that the initial source of his rage had left. "Well you right? I have changed? But you want to know WHY I changed?" VI asked, Ekko still stood silent, not sure of what to say. "It isn't because I moved to Piltover, or became a Warden, or Caitlyn. I changed because I needed to grow up, I realized that there are things in this world that are a helluva lot bigger than me and in order to protect the ones I love I needed to stop putting people's lives in danger and actually fucking help people for a change." VI said as her fist began to soften. "I suggest you grow up to." VI said before turning to the exit. "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to check if my partner is okay, see you guys at the burial tomorrow." VI then left the building, going back home by foot. Sure in a pricey suit like hers and colorful hair easily recognizable by vengeful Zaunite gangsters would make her a bright black and pink target, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle.

Once the doors opened and closed once again Ekko looked behind him to see many varying faces. The Junes seemed to be shocked yet understanding of everyone's grief, many other people had mixtures of sadness and fear, but his parent's and the lost children had nothing to show but disappointment.

"Marcus Autumn," Caitlyn said as she pinned a picture of Ajuna's murderer under the row of weapon smugglers on her room's investigation board. Caitlyn couldn't help but stare at the single question mark next to Marcus, there was still another smuggler out in the city and for all Caitlyn new there might be more she hadn't accounted for. _"More innocent civilians, more children could be dying right now by these criminals, all because I haven't caught them yet." _Caitlyn bit her lip hard, mad that she had taken the day off when she could be working, mad that the human body needed rest. Caitlyn was spared of having to stare at the letter 'C' when she heard the doorbell ring, Caitlyn made her way to the door, failing to get rid of the tear stains on her face. Caitlyn opened the door, shocked to see VI standing in front of her. "VI!? What are you doing here!?"

"Hey Cait..." VI said as she entered the house. "How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling!?" Caitlyn exclaimed as she noticed the VI's heavy breathing and her now sweat stained suit. "Did you run all the way from Zaun on foot!?" Caitlyn asked, worried about VI's health.

"...Maybe." VI said as she caught her breath."

"VI why didn't you call me!?"

"Because I left as soon as you did, and you would have thought I was up to something if I texted you too soon." VI answered as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"VI! You shouldn't have just left Ajuna's funeral!" Caitlyn lead VI to the couch, after VI took a seat Caitlyn made a trip to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

"Actually it was about to end, and either way I wanted to make sure my partner was okay." VI said as said partner handed her the bottle, VI took a sip as Caitlyn sat next to her. "How's your nose?" VI asked, now it was her turn to check up on her partners health.

"It stopped bleeding, and nothing seems to be broken." Caitlyn said, rubbing said nose to make sure it was alright.

"Sorry about what Ekko did and said, he's a good kid, but it's just-"

"He's grieving..." Caitlyn said, fully understanding the irrational things a boy can do when under such grief. "But... he was right." Caitlyn stated as she began to rub her own arms again.

"No he wasn't." VI stated, bothered by Ekko's words.

"I've never lost anyone before, I've never had to go through the same pain as everyone else in the funeral. I've never lost anyone close to me in the force, I've saved my parents from 'C's men, and I haven't failed to save a civilian on the job." Caitlyn said, confirming Ekko's questions.

"You lost Ajuna." Caitlyn looked up towards her partner.

"I only knew him for an hour."

"And in that hour he became as attached to you as everyone he had ever met," VI declared, holding her partner's hands. "You have no idea how much that kid loves people, one time he helped an old lady cross the road and he ended up getting her phone number," VI said, smiling at the memory.

"Your just saying that to make me feel better," Caitlyn said, still glad that her partner cared for her.

"Really?" VI said as she took out her phone, scrolling through a series of photos in her gallery. After searching through the folder made up of photos from her time in Zaun, she found what she was looking for and showed it to Caitlyn. Caitlyn was surprised to see Ajuna walking a sickly old lady across the street, her sickness most likely due to living in one of the more polluted areas of Zaun. She couldn't help but smile as VI scrolled through more photos showing the young boy conversation with her like a couple of bar mates, and he had in fact received her phone number.

"Wait? Wasn't that lady at the funeral?" Caitlyn said, remembering a similar looking old lady that she had originally thought to be Ajuna's grandmother.

"Yeah, and Ajuna had only met her a about a little over a year ago," VI stated as she put away her phone. "If Ajuna was still here today, you two would have had so much fun together. Honestly he would have kicked your ass in hide and seek," VI said, happy that she had managed to make her partner chuckle at the thought.

"I would love to have seen that." Caitlyn smiled, she still felt pain from the loss and some of Ekko's words, but she at least felt a little bit at peace knowing Ajuna would have accepted her. Caitlyn slowly embraced VI, thankful of having such a caring partner that she could grieve with.

"You think you're ready to go to the burial tomorrow?" VI asked as she returned Caitlyn's embrace.

"I think so... he would want me to be there right?"

"Yeah..."

"VI? do you think we could have saved Ajuna, that we could have caught Marcus before that day? No; that we could have found 'C' before then," Caitlyn asked.

"Caitlyn, there is no way we could have known Ajuna would have gotten himself caught up in that crap," VI said, having wondered the same question. "But it's just like you said, we're going to find 'C' and beat the crap out of them," VI declared.

Ekko's life was full of mistakes, Sometimes he would pick the wrong fights, get that rare wrong answer on a test, or maybe get himself in trouble with the wrong crowd. Today however, Ekko had made his biggest mistake in his entire life. "Dammit!" Ekko exclaimed as he fell on his bed, having been grounded for a month. "What the hell was I thinking!" Ekko exclaimed as his face was firmly planted against his bed, screams of frustration muffled by his mattress. Ekko was someone whom despite his emotions would always try to find the best possible route in any given scenario, but Ekko couldn't fathom how he had caused such an emotionally charged outburst, in Ajuna's funeral no less. He felt so much anger and rage that he held inside of him for the entire week, the secrets of his rewinds needing to be kept to himself. After VI had left the funeral, the lost children simply gave him the silent treatment while his parents delivered a mean scolding during the drive home.

"Wait, I can fix this," Ekko's instincts kicked in as he moved to a covered up device on his chair next to his bedside drawer. Pulling away the covers revealed a powered off Zero Drive, Ekko punched the drawer having realized that he left it deactivated thinking it wouldn't be a good idea to leave a time bending device unattended. Ekko winced and held his knuckle, regretting the act of taking his anger towards an inanimate piece of furniture, however his fist had accidentally opened the drawer revealing something that caught his eye. Ekko took out its contents to reveal discarded acceptance letters and scholarships to Piltover University.

_"D-Do you think all Pilties are bad?" _Ajuna's last words replayed in Ekko's head as he shuffled through the documents. _"I think some of them are good; when you give them a chance."_

"Give them a chance?" Ekko asked as he looked at one last document, a scholarship that covered all of his tuition and school supplies.

**The Next Day**

"Where is she?" A yordle asked himself as he traveled across the rooftops. "It isn't like her to disappear without a single trace of a KA-BOOM!" He said as he fixed his green goggles looking around the rooftops of Zaun. The yordle adorned a massive grin when he finally found whom he was searching for. The person in question was wearing a grey cloak, but he recognized the distinct design of the shark shaped rocket launcher on her left shoulder anywhere. The yordle performed calculations as he set an explosive charge on the floor, making sure that it was powerful enough to do as he wanted but not so much as too harm the structure or any poor souls below him. Crouching down with his rear end pointed towards the device, he readied himself as the explosive charge launched the cackling yordle a great distance.

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The yordle yelled before performing a not-so graceful landing, his body bouncing and skidding across the rooftop. "Ow! That hurt a lot, but worth it!" He exclaimed as he ruffled his brown fur and approached his cloaked friend. "Hey! I've been looking for you! I hope you weren't blowing up anything without me!" The yordle grinned, however that grin soon turned into a worried frown as he noticed that his friend was crying, sitting on the edge of the building in the fetal position.

"Oh... Hey conscience," The girl croaked, not turning her head towards her new visitor.

_"Once again it's Ziggs, but seems like I should probably save the corrections for later," _ He said as he sat next to her on the ledge. Ziggs noticed that directly in front of him was a cemetery, people wearing black suits and dresses mourned as a coffin descended into the ground. "Oh... Sorry," Ziggs wanted to hug his friend, but due to her position and the size difference Ziggs opted to just gently placing his palm on her leg. The girl continued to sob waterfalls of tears as her head sank further into her knees. "Hey I know what will make you feel better! How about we set off fireworks in one of the clan houses! Or steal a sports car for joyride!" Ziggs said with a massive smile.

The cloaked girl turned her head towards her rocket launcher, as if she was awaiting an answer. "Yeah, I think I might finally agree with fish bones, I'm not in the mood for explosions," She answered, leaving Ziggs dumbfounded and shocked.

"But explosions always make you feel better!"

"They do con- I mean Ziggs, but I-I think I need a break," The girl said, even surprising herself with her answer.

"I see, well take as long as you like," Ziggs said, returning to his manic smile. "Everyone needs a break sometime, and if you ever need anything I'm always here to help!" Ziggs declared. The cloaked girl gave as big as a smile as her grief could allow her, she quickly grabbed the fluffy yordle and hugged him tightly like a teddy bear.

"Thank you," The cloaked girl's eyes turned bitter as she identified pink hair and the lack of a tall hat in the distance. "At least YOU care."


End file.
